[Screening for the risk of allergy and prevention in French maternity units: A survey]. / Dépistage du risque d'allergie et prévention en maternité : enquête des pratiques AllerNaiss.

Allergy has been on the rise for half a century and concerns nearly 30% of children; it has now become a real public health problem. The guidelines on prevention of allergy set up by the French Society of Paediatrics (SFP) and the European Society of Paediatric Allergology and Clinical Immunology (ESPACI) are based on screening children at risk through a systematic search of the family history and recommend, for children at risk, exclusive breastfeeding whenever possible or otherwise utilization of hypoallergenic infant formula, which has demonstrated efficacy. The AllerNaiss practice survey assessed the modes of screening and prevention of allergy in French maternity units in 2012. The SFP guidelines are known by 82% of the maternity units that took part in the survey, and the ESPACI guidelines by 55% of them. A screening strategy is in place in 59% of the participating maternity wards, based on local consensus for 36% of them, 13% of the units having a written screening procedure. Screening is based on the search for a history of allergy in first-degree relatives (99%) during pregnancy (51%), in the delivery room (50%), and after delivery (89%). A mode of prevention of the risk of allergy exists in 62% of the maternity units, most often in writing (49%). A hypoallergenic infant formula is prescribed for non-breastfed children in 90% of the units. The survey shows that there is a real need for formalization of allergy risk screening and prevention of allergy in newborns in French maternity units.

[Tolerance and adequacy of a 100% lactose infant formula. A controlled randomized double-blind study]. / Tolérance et adéquation pour la croissance d'une préparation pour nourrissons contenant du lactose comme seule source de glucides. Étude contrôlée randomisée en double insu chez 178 nourrissons.

UNLABELLED: Lactose has beneficial nutritional effects in infancy, particularly on calcium retention and on Bifidobacterium colon microflora development. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this controlled, prospective, randomized double-blind study was to assess the adequacy and safety of an infant formula containing only lactose as carbohydrate, as compared to a usual formula. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Healthy non-breast-fed infants aged under 7 days were randomized to be fed exclusively with a conventional formula containing lactose (9.6 g/100 kcal) and maltodextrin (1.6 g/100 kcal) or the isocaloric-isoprotein study formula containing 100% lactose (11.2 g/100 kcal) for 120 days. Primary outcome was daily weight gain at D0 and D120. Weight, length, body mass index, formula consumption, tolerance, and safety were assessed monthly. The non-inferiority of the study formula was rejected if the difference in weight gain was higher than 2.5 g/day in the control group. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-eight infants were enrolled. Mean daily weight gain in the study group differed by 0.71 g/day (95% CI: -2.23; 0.82) indicating the non-inferiority of the study formula. Growth was normal and similar in the two groups, but formula intake was decreased in the study group, leading to a decrease in energy and protein intakes. Tolerance was good and adverse events did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The 100% lactose study infant formula was safe and non-inferior to a conventional formula in ensuring normal growth during the first 4 months of life.

[Value of a new thickened formula in infants with regurgitations]. / Intérêt d'une nouvelle préparation infantile dans la prise en charge des régurgitations du nourrisson.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this open multicenter study was to evaluate the value of a new starch-thickened formula in infants with regurgitations in ambulatory pediatric practice. POPULATION AND METHODS: The study population comprised full-term infants with an age at inclusion of 1-90 days, who were bottle-fed and presented regurgitations. The formula tested was an infant formula-thickened with starch (2g/100mL). The primary endpoint was the frequency of bottles regurgitated, expressed in percentage of meals per day after 15 days of feeding with the preparation studied. Secondary endpoints were the assessment of regurgitations using the Vandenplas' score, as well as the daily increase in weight, height, and cranial circumference, overall and gastrointestinal tolerance, and formula acceptability. RESULTS: Sixty-four infants presenting regurgitation were included. The frequency of bottles regurgitated estimated at 80.3% at inclusion significantly decreased at D3, D15, and D30 to 40.1, 40.2 and 37.2% (P<0.0001), respectively. Thirty percent of infants did not present regurgitations at all at D30. Similarly, a significant decrease in the Vandenplas' score was observed from 1.9 at D0 to 0.9 at D30 (P<0.0001). Infant growth was similar to the French and European growth curves. CONCLUSION: The results showed rapid and lasting improvement in decreasing the frequency of feeding-bottles regurgitated by 50% from the first 3 days of using this new starch-thickened formula (2g/100mL). These satisfying results encourage the use of the tested formula in cases of infant regurgitation, in line with the European Society of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) recommendations.

[Evaluation of a formula with low protein content and supplemented with probiotic agents after breast milk weaning]. / Evaluation d'une préparation pour nourrissons à teneur réduite en protéines et enrichie en probiotiques, en relais de l'allaitement maternel.

UNLABELLED: Besides assuring growth and development in early infancy, human breast milk plays a key role in preventing infections, in particular by favouring the growth of bifidobacteria. The development of infant formulas containing probiotic agents consequently represents a significant advance in the provision of an optimal alternative to breast feeding when this is not feasible. A further concern is to avoid an excessively high protein content relative to breast milk, potentially favouring obesity in later life. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this open Multicenter comparative study was to demonstrate that a new infant formula, characterized by a reduced protein content and the presence of a probiotic agent, was as effective as conventional formulas in assuring growth during the first months of life. POPULATION AND METHODS: The study population comprised full-term healthy infants with an age at inclusion of 1-28 days, whose mothers no longer wished to continue breast feeding or were unable to breast feed. The test formula (GE), enriched with Bifidobacterium lactis, had a protein content of 1.5 g/100 ml. The primary end point was daily weight gain from day 0 to day 90. Secondary end points were daily increase in height and cranial circumference, overall and gastrointestinal tolerance and formula acceptability. A total of 203 infants were included in the analysis, 117 receiving GE and 86 the formula habitually prescribed by the paediatrician. RESULTS: Daily gains in weight, height and cranial circumference did not differ significantly between the groups. The rates of overall and gastrointestinal adverse events were comparable in the two groups and the acceptability of GE was consistently good, similar to that of the standard formulas. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that the new probiotic infant formula GE has equivalent efficacy to conventional formulas in achieving growth in early infancy, and is well tolerated.