One of the most popular way doctors get true allergy test results is by doing skin tests. They can be itchy and uncomfortable. You can also get results by drawing blood. But there's a new test on the market that can identify more than 100 allergens, and it's as simple as a finger prick.
Mia, 2, is the daughter of someone working for Allergypro, so when she started to shows signs of allergies, they wanted the test.
"I wanted to bring her in because she was having reactions," Mia's mother Claudia Handrick said.
Dr. Janet Pate with Nurture Pediatrics in Bellaire said that until now the only proven allergy tests were to draw blood, or do a scratch test which can be very uncomfortable and irritating to kids and parents. Plus, they each only test for 14 allergens.
The new test method, the Allergypro blood test, is only a finger prick. With four drops of blood, Pate said they can confirm up to 120 allergens.
"It can be really helpful. Skin testing is the gold standard for deciding what allergen a child may be reacting to. Sometimes this is a screening test and they go on further skin testing or sometimes this test is enough for us to identify the cause of their allergy and they don't need skin testing," she said.
Pate said a child has to be experiencing the reaction when they come in for the finger prick.
"If a child has had a recent reaction to an allergen, you can get some very crucial data to find the root cause of their allergy," she said.
The causes can fall under 70 environmental allergens or 50 food allergens.
"Whenever she's had an injection she's crying and I think (of) the fear of seeing the needle. This alternative, this is a world of difference I think," Handrick said.
Pate said Mia actually has no allergies, which is rare, instead she said the symptoms she was experiencing was from a recurring respiratory infection.
If the test had revealed a-typical allergens then Pate suggests kids see an allergist.
According to the website, the test is available in Bellaire, the Woodlands and Lake Jackson.
