Food And Drug Reactions And AnaphylaxisImproved screening for peanut allergy by the combined use of skin prick tests and specific IgE assays☆
Section snippets
Study population
We conducted a cross-sectional study with 363 children referred for an evaluation of suspected food hypersensitivity. They had not been given a diagnosis of peanut allergy at the time of inclusion, but we systematically tested for this allergy because peanut is the most common food allergen in France. The children were all subjected to the same testing procedure, which was always performed in the same orderand at the same time: clinical history, SPT with commercial and fresh (raw) extracts,
Study population
Three hundred sixty-three children were included in the study. On the basis of the DBPCFC results, 177 children were allergic to peanut, and 186 were not. The median age was 4.0 years (range, 0.1-15.9 years), the boy/girl sex ratio was 1.8, and 67.5% (245/363) had a family history of atopic disease. All 186 children with a negative DBPCFC result had one or more allergies to foods other than peanut: allergies confirmed by DBPCFCs performed with the same procedure as the peanut oral food
Discussion
The DBPCFC is universally recognized as the gold standard for the diagnosis of peanut allergy because of its 100% sensitivity and specificity. Clinical histories, SPTs, and specific IgE assays can indicate a possible diagnosis of peanut allergy. Nevertheless, suggestive clinical histories are validated by DBPCFCs in less than 50% of subjects.26 The effect of a diagnosis of peanut allergy on an individual's lifestyle in terms of school or work performance, leisure activities, and financial burden
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Reprint requests: Fabienne Rancé, MD, Allergologie, Hôpital des Enfants, CHU Toulouse, 330 avenue de Grande-Bretagne, 31026 Toulouse cedex, France.