Description

Find out what allergy testing is available to help you determine if your children will develop an allergic reaction to peanuts.

Transcript

Eileen: My question is my older son is allergic to peanuts and my youngest son is turning too now and we've been resistant about introducing peanut products to him. Is there a test my son can take to find out if he is allergic? Stanley Naguwa: Hi Eileen. Yes, there are tests to determine whether or not your son will or will not have a reaction to the consumption of Peanut. Tests can be performed by skin testing or blood testing looking for the presence of IGE, a protein that mediates the allergic reaction. If the tests are negative, then there's 95% chance that he will not have a reaction after the consumption of Peanuts. There is that 5% margin of error. On the other hand, if the tests are positive, there's only 50% chance that he'll have an allergic reaction after eating peanuts. The best test to determine his susceptibility to have a reaction to the consumption of peanuts would be a food challenge performed by an experienced, and competently trained personnel.