1. What is infantile allergic enteropathy? How is it related to infant food intolerance and food allergy? Allergic enteropathy in infants is a gastrointestinal disorder caused by food allergy. The main manifestations are diarrhea, constipation, lactation and sleep disturbance due to colic. Food intolerance in infants refers to gastrointestinal dysfunction or systemic reactions caused by maladaption to the food eaten, such as prolonged diarrhea resulting in reduced lactase activity and prolonged diarrhea. Food intolerance in a broad sense includes food allergy. Food allergy is an adverse reaction to food involving the immune system, and allergic enteropathy in infants is the most common manifestation. This allergy can manifest itself in all parts of the digestive system, from the mouth and gastroesophagus to the colon and rectum, and in some infants, mouth ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding and respiratory symptoms such as coughing and throat whirring can occur. Except for a very small number of infants with stubborn and severe allergies to specific foods due to genetic predisposition (e.g., celiac disease due to bran allergy), most outpatients with infantile food allergic enteropathy have a good prognosis and are in the process of perfecting the immune barrier in the infant’s digestive tract. No special treatment is needed, and most of them are cured at the age of 1 to 3 years. 2. Why is there a significant increase in food allergy in infants at present? What are the dangers? Gastrointestinal dysfunction caused by food intolerance has become one of the main causes of diarrhea in infants in urban pediatric clinics. Due to the lack of awareness of infant food allergy enteropathy, many children are diagnosed with chronic enteritis or dysentery for a long time, and they take or even receive intravenous antibiotics for a long time, and some parents are physically and mentally emaciated because their children’s diarrhea is not cured for a long time. Severe infant food allergy can cause delayed physical growth and development, decreased immunity and susceptibility to infection. The reasons for the increased incidence of food allergy enteropathy in recent years are unclear and widely divergent. Some experts point out that it is caused by the diversification of human foods, especially the increase in artificial foods, the increase in infants with allergies (and infant allergies are related to maternal allergy to the fetus during pregnancy), and possibly the increase in vaccinations. From a macroscopic point of view, the current increase in food allergies and intolerances in infants is also a manifestation of changes in human lifestyles, human-nature coordination and human evolutionary processes. 3. What is the relationship between allergic enteropathy and enteritis? Allergic enteropathy causes gastrointestinal dysfunction and dysbiosis of the normal intestinal nucleus, which, together with the incomplete development of the immune barrier in the gastrointestinal tract of infants, can easily lead to bacterial enteritis. But this kind of enteritis is different from exogenous infection enteritis, dysentery, can not be long-term application of antibiotics, otherwise it will further lead to intestinal bacterial promotion disorder, causing antibiotic-related diarrhea. 4.How can I confirm the diagnosis of allergic enteropathy in infants? There is no gold standard for diagnosing allergic enteropathy in infants, but it is mainly determined by medical history, stool appearance and shape, and the effect of changing the infant’s feeding method. However, the former has a low positive rate, and the latter is not easily carried out routinely in general. It is important to emphasize that the identification of infection and allergy cannot be based solely on the white and red blood cell counts in the stool. It is not a bad idea to switch to anti-allergic formula for 2 to 4 weeks and observe the changes in the condition to disprove the cause of diarrhea. 5.Will allergy occur in breastfed children? In recent years, allergies in breastfed babies have increased significantly, and many have been diagnosed with dysentery enteritis. Some parents even blame themselves for their own “milk” or the lack of hygiene in the home environment, psychological pressure almost to the brink of collapse. In fact, recent studies have shown that normal breast milk can contain 30,000 bacteria per milliliter. The microorganisms in breast milk can come from the mother’s skin and more from the baby’s gastrointestinal tract and mouth. It is breast milk that plays the role of giving babies a constant supply of probiotics and prebiotics. However, components of breast milk do cause allergies in infants, including newborns. Appropriate restriction of the mother’s diet may alleviate the infant’s allergy symptoms. The decision on how to handle the feeding regimen of the infant with breast milk allergy, the complementary food regimen, and how to implement the vaccination program needs to be weighed by the doctor and the mother based on the baby’s gastrointestinal function and the extent to which growth and development are affected.