Allergy Testing For Kids Must Go Beyond Common Methods: Study As
parents of children who've experienced an allergic reaction
know, it can be difficult to determine exactly what is going on
in your son's or daughter's body and what it means for you all
going forward. Now, a new report from two leading allergists
tries to cut through that confusion, warning that the most
common allergy tests should not be used as a crutch by doctors
and should never serve as the sole means of diagnosing an
allergy. In the article, published Monday in the journal
Pediatrics, Dr. Robert Wood of the Johns Hopkins Children's
Center and Dr. Scott Sicherer of Mt. Sinai caution that while
blood and skin tests can pick up sensitivity to a substance,
they stop short of accurately determining whether or not a child
has a full-blown allergy. Both blood and skin tests detect the
presence of particular antibodies released by the body in the
face of a potential allergen. Skin testing can include a skin-
prick test, where a small amount of the