As an allergist, we will often test the sibling of a child with food allergies before introducing the top 8 allergenic foods (milk, eggs, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, fish and shellfish).
New preliminary research indicates that that is the WRONG approach.
In a study of 1,120 siblings of children with diagnosed food allergies, food testing was performed. While 53% of the siblings came up positive on skin testing, only 13% had an actual food allergy.
Testing for food allergies if there hasn’t yet been a reaction can be misleading. Food allergy tests perform poorly in terms of being able to predict the future risk in someone who has never eaten the food before because there is always a substantial risk of false positive testing.
This study confirms that allergy testing for foods should be used to help confirm a diagnosis rather than as a sole predictor to make a diagnosis.
SOURCE: American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, news release, Nov., 2015
Meet Dr. Michelle Yasharpour
Dr. Michelle Yasharpour is a board-certified Adult and Pediatric Allergy and Immunology expert, ready to help diagnose and treat your allergies, asthma, atopic dermatitis/eczema, contact dermatitis, immunodeficiency, urticaria/hives, sinusitis, rhinitis, anaphylaxis, angioedema, and more.
Michelle was a wonderful doctor, and taught me so much about my own allergies. She's a kind, brilliant physician, and operates with upmost professionalism.