Allergy testing can be performed from infancy, and there is no minimum age below which it is not worth doing if the clinical question is clear. Skin prick testing - where small amounts of standardised allergen extracts are placed on the forearm skin with a lancet - is quick, well-tolerated in children of all ages, and provides results within 15 to 20 minutes. It identifies which specific allergens the child's immune system has produced IgE antibodies against. For very young infants or children who cannot cooperate with skin testing, specific IgE blood tests provide equivalent information. The results of allergy testing do not diagnose allergy on their own - they are always interpreted alongside the child's clinical history of reactions to determine which sensitisations are clinically relevant.
Written by Dr. Prasad Muley, MBBS, MD, FAAAI (Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology), Consultant Paediatrician and Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Specialist, Gujarat. Phone: +91 9879609195.
