Skin prick test, I don't trust the result... what do you think?

[Schulte]

DD2 had her test this week, she's just turned 1. She had a bad reaction to egg when she came into skin contact with it when she was 7 mo, with a massive dark red patch and lots of hives around where the egg had touched her skin. So I have kept her off egg since. The skin prick test did show a reaction to both egg white and egg yolk, however not a bad one, there was a distinct hive there but it was much smaller than the positive control one (egg hive around 3mm, control hive 4mm). The consultant thinks she should be fine with things like cake and has asked us to try her at home, I am a bit scared though... what does everyone think?

consultants expertise V's mums instint its a hard one.

My DS 5 yrs had an allergic reaction after eating pizza and ketchup awaiting allergy test results but he is eating a slice of pizza a week no probs.

Perhaps ask for a second opinion if your concerned.

Best of luck.

My DS had a similar reaction to milk at 7 months. He also tested as allergic to egg. He was retested at 12 months and he had outgrown both. He still struggles a little with uncooked fresh milk but otherwise has been fine. We started him on cake and worked up from there. So although I would definitely still be cautious (and was v nervous when I gave DS his first cake) it is certainly not inconceivable that your DD would be ready to start trying to introduce egg now.

DS also has an egg allergy. We first found out when he developed head to foot urticaria (nettle like rash) after eating scrambled egg however he has always been able to tolerate cake etc just not (what we call) eggy egg. He is now 4 and I think he has grown out of it completely but wanted him tested in a controlled environment.

We were given advice by an immunologist who said the more we could expose him to egg the better the chance of him growing out of it.

So you think 5 months is long enough to outgrow something? Can you talk me through how you started introducing egg.... cake first, then what next?

Eggy egg being quiche, scrambled egg, mayonnaise... that kind of thing?

Hmmm McDreamy from what I have read there are two camps... those who think exposing to small amounts of the allergen is a good thing, and those who think keeping them away from the allergen completely is better... I don't know which to believe, I have allergies myself and personally avoid the things I am allergic to as best I can.

Yes I avoided anything with pure egg like scrambled, boiled, fried, quiche, mayonnaise, and for the first couple of years batter based dishes although he can eat pancakes now.

We found out about his allergy when he was about 10 months so he already had cake etc and so we knew he could tolerate it. I tried him with some pancakes last year when he was 3. I am still waiting to have him tested to see if he's outgrown it completely. I never had him patch tested.

That's medicine for you

Not to frighten you, but I would ask for a challenge on the ward. We were given the same advice re an Egg ladder, with pretty hairy concequences. To be fair, my DD was initially fine with the first (cake) stage of the ladder, but had a very severe reaction to hard boiled eggs and her breathing was compromised. This is pretty frightening when it happens at home. She has since had a challenge to well cooked eggs, and has been re-sensatised so it is now off the menu completely, inspite of her most recent blood test showing zero IgE for egg white. Neither skin prick testing nor RAST testing is fool proof, and poth give false positives as well as false negatives.

I think if you are worried, you should ask for her to be challenged in hosptial.

we had the same experience. I was advised to try cakes first because the egg in it is cooked through to dormancy. Runny eggs (eggy eggs ;D) are a whole different ball game and came a lot later on and never without hospital supervision.
I'd go with it - we did - made a huge difference to lifestyle ...
good luck!

i would personally ask for an egg challenge to be done.

dd4 has allergy to milk egg and peanuts. her last lot of RAST tests suggested she wasnt allergic to milk anymore, and egg was within the normal range. last week she failed a milk challenge at the first stage (a touch of milk on the skin). she is booked in for an egg challenge in 2 weeks time. she has never had egg, not even in cake or biscuits. so i am very nervous.

Thanks everyone for the advice! So how do I ask for the egg challenge... just go to my GP and request it? The test was done privately (but obviously by an NHS clinic) and I saw the consultant privately but since she's discharged us I guess the insurance company is not going to cover any further investigations.

i would ask to be seen at allergy clinic again.

nellymoo - had your DD had a test before they told you to do the challenge and what was the result? I am surprised that despite the very distinct hives for both egg white and yolk we've been told she should be fine.

Right, I'll make an appointment with the GP who I trust... she always errs on the side of caution, just like me

My dd1 was diagnosed with egg white allergy at 14 months following reaction (urticaria) after scrambled egg at 12 months (has eczema so delayed intoduction of pure egg)

We saw an immunologist who advised to avoid all contact with egg which we did although she came into contact with cake decorations made with egg white at a party and her face swelled up.

Last summer when she was 3 the paediatrician we see for her asthma/eczema suggested re-doing the blood tests. He didn't have the facility to re-do the skin prick.

He said the results showed her egg allergy to be reduced and to start her on things such as cakes with small quantities of egg.

The first few times she was fine but then she accidentally came in contact with raw egg white - a tiny amount got on her skin and she had a major reaction - all over hives and huge swelling of the face.

The doctor said she was clearly still allergic to raw egg white but should be ok with cooked.

I wasn't convinced and decided to exclude until we got another opinion but at toddler group in Feb she ate some of a shop bought pancake and broke out in hives.

I'm still waiting to see someone else about this but I am not happy with the care we got from the paed as trying the egg with no supervision seems quite risky considering her reaction to the raw egg.

As far as I am concerned she is still very allergic to egg and I am witholding until told otherwise.

I think it is all so confusing and if I was you I would wait and talk to an allergy specialist before doing any challenges at home.

I believed the paed when he said dd's allergy had reduced but seeing the reaction she had to the raw egg was very scary. Her face was very swollen.

God, it's so difficult, isn't it! I find doctors can be really dismissive about allergies - 'try at home and just make sure you have Piriton in the house'.

OP - no, my daughter had never been exposed to egg prior to the challenge. She has numerous, and severe allergies to a number of foods and we were advised to avoid egg after RAST test showed her to be allergic to egg white. I was told to do an egg ladder after subsequent IgE tests came back as within normal range.

We were at the allergy clinic just yesterday for results of more IgE tests, and she is still reading as negative to egg, inspite of a very recent and severe reaction So they will re-challenge in 12 months.

To sum it all up the skin prick and RAST tests are all a load of bollocks and the only thing that's for real is eating something and seeing what happens, is it?

Schulte - sorry if someone else has said this but its highly possible to be allergic to raw or lightly cooked eggs (scarmabled etc) but be fine with baked egg e.g in cakes. This is because the protein denatures at a very high temp (for a long time (or something like that)

My dd1 had a baked egg challenge in hospital but i kind of thought she would be ok as she had accidentally ingested some cake at nursery and been ok.

We have been offered an egg challenge in hospital to 'see how she reacts' but at the moment I am not keen to do this. Shes 3. Her skin prick tests have always been the same.

Sorry I didn't answer your question. I would ask for a challenge in hospital.

Thanks Whelk, yes I know about the cooked egg / lightly cooked egg thing. I guess I am happy enough to try her on cake at home but scrambled egg... not so sure since I saw the reaction to the skin prick test! Which is why I am going back to the GP.

Even for the cake?

Sorry to harp on...but yes, I would say ask for a challenge, even for cake. According to DDs dietician, she has seen children on the ward who have been challenged for baked egg, gone away for two weeks to return for a challenge with less cooked egg, who in that time have been re-sensitised (you have to avoid ALL egg products in the interim). The next time my daughter is challenged, she has advised us to keep feeding her egg products that she can tollerate in that two week period(this is all theoretical, she might not ever be able to have egg again!!)
So, if your daughter has already had a reaction, by avoiding egg products, there is a possibility that her next reaction could be more severe IYSWIM?
With this in mind, I really don't know why they suggested we do an egg ladder in the first place! That said, theory and best practice changes all the time...

Yes- even for the cake