Source: International Congress 2014 – Clinical allergy
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

Background:Skin prick tests (SPT) are widely used both in clinical practice and in research. The standardizationof the allergen extracts is well documented to be crucial for the validity of SPT, whereas lessemphasis has been on reproducibility and the SPT procedure itself.Objective: To study how the duplicate skin prick test procedure influence the sensitivity andspecificity of the test and to analyse the differences in wheal size in skin prick tests with twobatches of allergen extracts from same vendor.Methods:The association between rhinitis and SPT was assessed among 1135 subjects from a generalpopulation sample. SPT was performed twice with 10 common aeroallergens. In a subsample of 90persons SPT was performed simultaneously with five of the allergens using two different batchesResults:Thirty percent had at least one positive SPT. Only minor disagreements were seen between the sizesof two wheals from the same batch. A second SPT with the same batch did not change theassociation between rhinitis and sensitization. When performing SPT with two different batchesdisagreement was observed in 2 % (Birch) to 11% (Dog) of the subjects.Conclusions:Performing SPT twice with the same allergen batch does not enhance the validity of the test, andduplicate testing cannot be recommended. Considerable difference in SPT response was observedwhen using different batches from the same vendor. Thus, inter batch differences in allergenextracts might be a source of variability.

Rating:

Share or cite this content

Citations should be made in the following way:
G. Thomsen, V. Schlünssen, L. Skadhauge, T. H. Malling, D. Sherson, O. Omland, T. Sigsgard (Esbjerg, Aarhua, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense, Denmark). Skin prick test allergen batch differences and duplicate skin prick tests: Which are important?. Eur Respir J 2014; 44: Suppl. 58, 4021

Member's Comments

No comment yet.

Related content which might interest you: Skin prick test versus specific IgE – A comparative study in patients with bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis in India Source: International Congress 2014 – Clinical allergy Year: 2014 Skin prick tests & identification of common household allergens in naso-bronchial allergic disorders in Southern India Source: Annual Congress 2013 –Genetics and mechanisms of, and tests for, allergy Year: 2013 Clinical relevance of positive skin prick test to house dust mite in Portugal and Finland Source: Annual Congress 2013 –Genetics and mechanisms of, and tests for, allergy Year: 2013 Measurement and analysis of the common food allergens specific IgE Source: International Congress 2014 – Clinical allergy Year: 2014 Skin prick test Source: Procedure Video 2015 Year: 2015 Assessing the clinical significance of conjunctival provocation test with standardized extracts of dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in pediatric respiratory allergic disease Source: International Congress 2014 – More paediatric asthma Year: 2014 Does low prevalence of pig allergy among Danish farmers reflect flaws in the skin prick test? Source: International Congress 2014 – Occupational asthma, abestosis and silicosis Year: 2014 Aspergillus skin hypersensitivity in patients of COPD Source: International Congress 2014 – Clinical allergy Year: 2014 Skin prick test response to inhalant allergens in Chinese asthmatics Source: Eur Respir J 2001; 18: Suppl. 33, 433s Year: 2001 Allergen microarray detection of specific IgE in southern Chinese pollen allergy patients Source: International Congress 2014 – Paediatric asthma: epidemiology and risk factors Year: 2014 Comparison of immunology tests for determining sensitisation to mouse proteins in laboratory animal workers Source: International Congress 2015 – Work, environment and the epidemiology of asthma Year: 2015 Changes in pollen sensitization over last twenty years in Tunisia Source: International Congress 2015 – Novel mechanisms and treatments in allergy and asthma Year: 2015 Dynamic change of house dust mites and its components- sIgE and sIgG4 in specific immunotherapy Source: International Congress 2014 – Intervening in allergic asthma Year: 2014 Differences in skin prick test reactivity among children according to different aeroallergens Source: Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 523s Year: 2002 Agreement between atopy from skin prick testing (SPT) and questionnaire report of allergy Source: Annual Congress 2010 - Methods in respiratory epidemiology Year: 2010 Usefulness of nasal provocation test in the diagnosis of mite allergic rhinitis: Standard or rapid? Source: Annual Congress 2013 –Genetics and mechanisms of, and tests for, allergy Year: 2013 Gender difference in skin prick sensitivity to allergens in 10-15 year cases with respiratory symptoms vs controls in Sicily and Malta Source: International Congress 2014 – Epidemiology of asthma Year: 2014 Hypersensitivity skin-prick test with common allergens, immunoglobulin E level and their genetic association with interleukin 13 among asthmatics in Sudan Source: Annual Congress 2013 –Studies of asthma in man Year: 2013 The allergy to insulin about a case treated by montelukast Source: International Congress 2014 – Clinical allergy Year: 2014