1. Allergy Testing — An Overview
- Author
-
Dhiren Gupta, Neeraj Gupta, Poojan Agarwal, and Anil Sachdev
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Allergy ,Cost-Benefit Analysis ,MEDLINE ,Allergy testing ,Immunologic Tests ,Serum ige ,Diagnostic modalities ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Quality of life (healthcare) ,030225 pediatrics ,Allergy test ,Hypersensitivity ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Child ,Intensive care medicine ,Adverse effect ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,Treatment Outcome ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Quality of Life ,business - Abstract
Childhood allergies pose huge economic burden and adverse effects on quality of life. Serum IgE has been considered a surrogate allergy marker for decades. Availability of several over-the-counter allergy tests add to confusion of partially trained caregivers. The present review focuses on current status of allergy testing in Indian scenario. Various in-vitro and in-vivo diagnostic modalities are available for allergy detection. Skin prick tests are useful for aero-allergies whereas oral challenge tests are best for identifying suspected food allergies. An allergy test should be individualized based on clinical features, diagnostic efficacy, and cost-benefit analysis.
- Published
- 2019