Egg allergy can be diagnosed by a healthcare practitioner based on a clinical history of allergy symptoms beginning within minutes of egg consumption.
In some cases, the allergy may be confirmed by measuring egg-specific IgE using a skin prick test or blood test. However, these tests tend to have poor positive predictive value, meaning that sometimes the test will be positive for egg-specific IgE when a true egg allergy isn’t present. Therefore, a positive IgE test will only lead to a diagnosis if the person also reports allergy symptoms following egg consumption. Occasionally, an oral food challenge may be performed in a supervised setting where egg is administered and the person is monitored for an allergic reaction.[1]
References
- ^Leech SC, Ewan PW, Skypala IJ, Brathwaite N, Erlewyn-Lajeunesse M, Heath S, Ball H, James P, Murphy K, Clark ATBSACI 2021 guideline for the management of egg allergy.Clin Exp Allergy.(2021-Oct)