Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Food Challenge Is Essential In Primary Hazelnut Allergy Diagnosis

Birch allergy affects up to a third of Canadians (Lok et al J Asthma 2017). Cross reaction between birch pollen and certain tree nut allergens mainly hazelnut may contribute to false positive skin tests as well as pollen-food syndrome and mislabeling patients as having a life-threatening allergy to hazelnut. We aimed to determine the usefulness of double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) in the diagnosis of primary hazelnut allergy (HA) in our oral immunotherapy study cohort.

Source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology - January 31, 2020 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Danbing Ke, Bruce Mazer, Duncan Lejtenyi, Liane Beaudette, Yvan St-Pierre, Sofianne Gabrielli, Julia Upton, Moshe Ben-Shoshan Source Type: research