SPT results for baby

[Knackeredmum13]

My 7 month old had a SPT yesterday as part of his treatment for severe eczema. The test showed positive for eggs, milk, wheat and cats.

I already suspected milk as he came up in hives after having formula one night. Its a bit strange as he was mixed fed from birth but then just had a reaction one night. He is now ebf. They didn't do a positive and negative control test though which I've since read should be standard?

Anyway I'm now awaiting the results of his blood test but am really worrying about it. Specifically the cat allergy since we have 2. The red wheal that appeared measured 2mm ( as opposed to 7mm for raw egg). I've read online that anything under 3mm is a negative but our allergist marked it down as positive. Does anybody have any experience of SPT showing reactions to cats that didn't exist in real life? I am dreading the idea that my beloved cats may have to go.

Before anybody flames me I will of course put my baby's health first. But I adore my cats and rehoming isn't as easy as some people make out. The shelters are overrun with cats looking for homes.

Bump

Ok so lets look at the bigger picture.

How allergic is he? Does he suffer daily? Is he happy? Eczema free? Snuffle free? Well? Sleeps well?

If hes fine and happy and suffers with no ailments, then dont worry abiut your cats.

However. If he is suffering with his skin, or chest or eyes, or nose of sleep or all of the above then you may need to consider that the cats are a facotr.

However 2# say if he was only just a little allergic to the cats, you could do things such as never allow them in his room, nay, upstairs. Get a air purfier for both up and down stairs. Get a pet hoover for u and down stairs, use petal clense (easier said than done though) and at the end of the day exposure to pets can improve allergies.

My mum was allergic to all cats except ginger ones. Really allergic to, not just a little bit.
I bought her a ginger kitten 15 years ago, after a few years she built up a resistance to all cats. She now has two cats and one of them is not ginger.

Same as my little brother. He was allergic to all cats (not as bad as my um though) and after introducing a cat into the home, slowly he built up a resistance.

However 3# some children get worse with exposure. This is a fact. Sometimes you need to eliminate the allergern altogether and let their oversensitized immune system calm before reintroducing allergens

It all depends on the child.

I'm not sure how allergic he is, if he is. So far we only have the skin prick test to go on. Until we get the blood test results back we are a bit clueless.

His only symptom is severe eczema which we now have under control after visiting a dermatologist.

I am not sure how reliable SPTs are in babies. You can definitely get false positives, and the size of the wheal is not always indicative of the severity of the allergy. My DD had a 2mm wheal to peanut but the consultant has not yet diagnosed peanut allergy as she's never eaten it to have a real-life reaction. He said she may just be sensitised due to exposure to the proteins through my breastmilk and not actually allergic. Conversely she definitely has quite a severe egg allergy and only had a 3mm wheal on the SPT. If she eats even a tiny amount she has massive hives and facial swelling. I'd wait until you have the results of the blood tests before deciding what to do about your cats. My DD also has symptoms of an environmental allergy and I'm praying it's not our cats causing it. We won't know until she has her blood tests done when she's one.

Thanks Kitty.

What symptoms does your DD have ?

I'm finding weaning tricky with having to avoid eggs, milk and wheat so I'm hoping he outgrows these allergies.

She wakes every morning snuffly and congested, and rubbing her eyes as though they itch. She was tested for house dust mite allergy through skin prick but that came back negative.

At the moment she's dairy free, egg free, soya free, wheat free and nut free. She's never even eaten the majority of things and only has one safe meat and two types of fish. I am vegetarian and bf so following a soya free vegan diet. It was really hard at first but I promise it does get easier! Fortunately she's happy eating what she's offered right now. I think it'll be harder when she wants choice and control over what she eats.

We're waiting until she's one to have RAST tests carried out. I'm being very cautious introducing new foods until then. Hopefully it'll open up a whole new world of ingredients - if not, then I know we can cope with a very limited diet. As I said, my main concern is the cats. I've decided to bury my head in the sand until such time as I need to make a decision.