Challenge tests in the diagnosis of latex allergy.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and safety of challenge tests and their usefulness in the diagnosis of latex allergy. Forty adult subjects (F/M = 34/6, aged 18-66 yrs) with a history of adverse reactions after latex exposure and positive prick test and/or specific IgE to latex were enrolled. They were compared with 20 control subjects.

Food allergy and food intolerance: diagnosis and treatment.

Food allergy is a matter of concern because it affects about 0.5-3.8% of the paediatric population and 0.

Sublingual-oral rush desensitization to mixed cow and sheep milk: a case report.

We attempted an oral rush desensitization with mixed cow and sheep milk in a 6-year-old boy who had had adverse reactions to cow and goat milks. Skin prick tests and specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E to cow, sheep and goat milks were positive. The double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge with cow milk was positive too.

Sublingual immunotherapy for latex allergy: tolerability and safety profile of rush build-up phase.

Objective: Sublingual immunotherapy represents an efficient therapeutic tool for the management of latex allergic patients. Local and systemic adverse reactions are reported, and risk factors for those reactions are poorly understood. The aim of this study is to compare two different rush induction protocols (2-day and 3-day) in terms of safety and tolerability and effectiveness in reaching the maintenance dose.

Multiple-drug intolerance syndrome: clinical findings and usefulness of challenge tests.

Background: Multiple-drug intolerance syndrome (MDIS) is characterized by adverse reactions to several classes of chemically unrelated drugs.

Objective: To analyze all patients with a history of adverse reactions to at least 3 drugs at the Allergy Unit of Policlinico Gemelli in a 6-year period to better characterize patients with MDIS and to find safe alternative drugs.

Methods: We studied 480 patients (aged >16 years) with a history of adverse reactions to at least 3 unrelated drugs and with negative allergy test results.