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Some food allergies in children go undetected

Category: Allergy Testing

Not enough youngsters are taking a blood test for food allergies, according to research appearing in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

A random survey of children who displayed allergy symptoms showed that only 70 percent had been diagnosed, and more than 30 percent of those had not been properly tested to verify their diagnosis. In addition, kids living in low income communities had a greater chance of having an undiagnosed allergy to foods such as eggs, milk, peanut, sesame, soy, shellfish or wheat.

"If you suspect your child has eaten something they're allergic to and you don't see a visible sign of a reaction, you need to think about what might be going on," said Ruchi Gupta, a Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine professor of pediatric care and a physician at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information reports that a positive result from a blood test for allergies can result from sensitivities to allergens from some drugs, pollen, dust, insects, mold and animal dander, in addition to certain foods.