Allergic eczema is a genetically predisposed disease (atopy). The atopic skin is a poor barrier to the outside environment, lacking an essential “protective glue” called Filaggrin. Casual contact with traces of foods and aero allergens from handling the infant, then leads to allergen sensitisation, followed by increased natural colonisation with Staphylococcus aureus skin bacteria which release endotoxins that further damage to the skins natural protective barrier mechanism.
Reducing Staphylococcal colonisation and improving the protective barrier effect of the skin is essential to guarding against eczema and allergies, and this needs to be done in the first year of life.
Clinical and Experimental Allergy: March 2015; 567-574. (Pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis – Peng and Novak)
