If your baby has been suspected of having a food allergy, you definitely have to keep an eye on them in every single time. Certainly, as parents must be worried about what kind of food will harm children. Therefore, food allergy testing can help answering a question and remind children to avoid those foods, so they can be able to live normal and intake meals without any obstacles.
Food allergy test by intake it
Tasting food is the most reliable way of diagnosis. A patient will be asked to have a suspected food in order to monitor some of following symptoms no matter the food allergy is caused either by IgE or non-IgE. .
The Ig E group usually causes symptoms within 24-48 hours after food intake
On the other hand, in IgE group, symptoms always require nearly a week for observation.
The oral food challenge can be diverse and adjusted according to a condition and doctor discretion including, evaluating whether a patient can recover from food allergies or not.
OFC Preparation Stage
Patients must be healthy and stay in a good condition without any symptom occurred for at least 1 week before testing. A use of antihistamine is also prohibited in a patient. Besides, the parents will be given the information about benefits, OFC process and the risk of testing before signing the inform consents. After receiving the consent signed by the parents, the test will begin.
Avoiding acute symptoms with close supervision from a physician.
In case of having an acute allergic reaction, the test should be controlled closely in hospital wards, by a medical team. Medicine and life-saving equipment should be prepared, for example, Adrenaline is being reserved during a process in case of having severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) besides, for food protein-induced enterocolitis (FPIEs) this group should be considered to receive intravenous access in advance. However, the program can be excluded in patients who have severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis 1 year before testing including, those with high levels of anti-immunity in the body. For example, a cow’s milk-specific IgE> 5 kUA / L (age <2 years) and> 15 kUA / L (age> 2 years)
OFC Procedure
The amount of suspected food, a doctor will let patients start a meal at 5-10 percents of the normal dose. Then gradually increase 2 times in every 15 minutes, including observing symptoms in the meantime. Until a child can eat as regularly and provide a food challenge test in every meal, observe symptoms at least 24 -48 hours. If there is no reaction, it means patients have no allergy and completely cured. On the other hand, in case of delayed symptoms, the observation should have been performed at least 7 days.
Pediatrician and a head of allergy center
Phyathai 3 Hospital
