Allergy is one of the most common diseases in children, and the incidence is increasing. One out of four children is allergic.
If you or your child suffers from itching eyes and a stuffed or runny nose, it’s easy to suspect allergy – but to what? Is it one allergy or several? Is it serious?
What’s an allergy?
An allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction initiated by immunological mechanisms to a substance or substances that are normally harmless e.g. pollen or cat dander etc. In the majority of cases, the antibody typically responsible for an allergic reaction is called immunoglobulin E (IgE), which will cause the release of certain chemicals in the body that cause typical allergy symptoms.
Allergens add up!
Although a few patients are allergic to just one substance, most patients are sensitive to more than one thing. In these cases, the effects of exposure to more than one allergen are cumulative – in other words, they add up! These patients may not show symptoms until their total exposure to allergens pushes them over the symptom threshold.
Relevant allergy symptoms:
- Gastrointestinal symptoms
- Dry, itchy skin
- Rhinitis
- Wheezing/asthma
- Recurrent ear infections
Why should allergy tests be done?
Trigger allergens should be identified in order to:
- provide optimal and effective therapy.
- identify and avoid appropriate substances.
- identify allergens for immunotherapy (desensitisation).
- identify patients whose symptoms cannot be attributed to allergy.
- prevent unnecessary therapy.
- prevent unnecessary allergen avoidance.
Should my child be tested?
Not all children with allergy symptoms need to be allergy-tested, but a test is required when symptoms suspected to be allergy persist. A precise and quantitative test such as ImmunoCAP® by Thermo Fisher and/or a skin prick test can help your doctor determine for sure if your child has allergies at an early stage, even before clinical symptoms have started.
There is a widespread misunderstanding that infants and very young children cannot be tested.
An ImmunoCAP blood test can be performed, irrespective of age, symptoms, disease activity or severity, medication or pregnancy.
For which allergens should you test?
The substances to which a patient is exposed will generally dictate the allergens for which to test. Nevertheless, some substances or allergens are more common as cause of allergy than others.
Factors to consider when selecting which allergens to test for include: home environment (pets, foods, plants, grasses etc.), type of symptoms, patient age and geographical area.
Immunotherapy
If contact with allergens cannot be avoided, immunotherapy can be considered in school-age children. This type of therapy involves exposing the patient to increasing amounts of allergen to increase the threshold to that particular allergen.
Immunotherapy is very effective in allergy to insect venoms, pollens, mites, animals and moulds.
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