JUST THE BASICS

With a nod to the show Man vs. Wild, this cartoon is about different types of allergen challenges. While allergy skin tests and blood tests are pretty good at picking up allergies, sometimes they are wrong! A challenge is the most reliable way of telling if someone is truly allergic to something or not. Some challenges, like insect sting challenges, are only done for research studies, while food and drug challenges are done every day in allergy clinics. Challenges are only offered in clinic when we have good reason to believe the patient is not allergic and we want to confirm that.

TELL ME SOMETHING NERDY

The “chamber of cats” is actually called an “allergen exposure chamber”, and it’s not really full of cats! There are several different designs for these, but, in general, it consists of a clean room sealed off from outside air to ensure that other allergens don’t sneak in. Fresh air is pumped in that contains an allergen like cat dander or pollen, and researchers measure how many allergy symptoms the patients experience. Nasal dust mite sprays have also been created as a way to test someone’s allergies. With these, the allergen is sprayed directly into the nose!

For insect sting challenges, a patient is stung with a live insect and monitored for signs of a reaction. The insects are kept in a refrigerator until they are ready to use, which keeps them from getting too agitated. When it is time for the challenge, the insect is positioned against the skin of the patient and held in place until it stings.

Man vs. Allergen? Now that’s wild!

Published in April 2023 Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2022.10.005