The incidence of allergies in children is widespread and, according to experts, will continue to rise.

Factors influencing the incidence of allergies

Allergies, which a person may be born with or acquire during life, are favoured by:

genetic predisposition,
environmental factors,
the so-called over-hygiene of life,
excessive antibiotic therapy,
delivery by caesarean section,
incorrect lifestyle.

Types of allergies

During infancy and early childhood, food allergies predominate, while inhalant allergies predominate at a later age.

Allergies in children, photo: panthermedia

Food allergens cause symptoms in the gastrointestinal tract and also on the skin, while inhalant allergens are responsible for allergic rhinitis and asthma.

What are the symptoms of allergies in children?

Thesymptoms of food allergy may affect the digestive and respiratory systems, as well as the skin. They often occur in younger children.

Symptoms include:

constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting, the presence of blood in the stool,
rash (urticaria),
respiratory problems, wheezing and rhinitis.

Older children often develop problems with inhalant allergens, such as grass and tree pollen, moulds, animal hair and house dust mites.

The most common symptoms of in halant allergy include:

tearing and itching of the eyes,
conjunctivitis,
upper respiratory tract infections,
dry cough,
sneezing,
chronic watery rhinitis.

How to diagnose allergies in children, photo: panhtermedia

At what age can an allergy test be performed?

An allergy test can be carried out at any age, but the test should be adapted to the age of the patient.

For a child up to the age of three months, a parental interview may be sufficient to find the allergen.
In children over six months of age, blood tests are performed.
In children over three years of age, a skin test may already be carried out.

The test to start allergy testing is the paediatric allergen panel of 30 allerg ens containing the most common food and inhalant allergens in children.

Skin test

To carry out the skin test, drops containing various allergens are applied to the forearm. After a defined period of time, a puncture is made. If a blister appears at the puncture site, this indicates that the patient is allergic to an allergen previously located at that site.

Types of allergy, photo: panthermedia

Blood test

In a blood test, a small amount of blood is drawn from the patient and IgE antibodies to the indicated allergens are determined.

However, the reliability of this test will be lower the younger the child is, as the human immune system is still forming by the teenage years. This also indicates the need to repeat the tests every 12 months on average to confirm or rule out the presence of sensitisation to further allergens.

Do childhood allergies last a lifetime?

It has been observed that early childhood food allergies to milk or egg white in many patients pass with age and therefore their tolerance to the allergens in question increases.

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