The case report of a 8 years old boy with cochineal allergy

Background: Cochineal dyes are used as additives in various foods for the purpose of red coloration. On the other hand, although it has been reported as a causative agent of immediate allergy, most of them are adult women. We report a case of an 8-year-old boy who developed a cochineal allergy. Current disease history: He has been suffering from atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma, and food allergies since childhood. At the age of seven, he experienced an unknown anaphylaxis reaction twice. When he was 8 years old, he ate a frankfurter containing hypoallergenic cochineal for the first time; cold sweat, intraoral discomfort, respiratory distress, and urticaria appeared throughout the body. His skin prick tests were positive, with a result of 2 + to frankfurter and cochineal dyes (color value 0.1 and 0.01). In the immunoblot assay, binding of IgE antibody was observed with CC38K (the main component of cochineal) and a protein of approximately 80-200 kDa in the high molecular weight region. Discussion: We report a case of anaphylaxis with hypoallergenic cochineal onset in a school-age boy.