pPhilip has been accepted at the school I've mentioned many times. One caveat is they would like a letter from his allergist detailing what is safe/unsafe for him in the classroom since they also eat snacks and lunch at the tables there./p
pHis allergist will not issue such a letter because it's been over a year since his first test - he wants to test him again. I hadn't been psychologically prepared to deal with testing again so soon and I'm thrown for a loop on this one./p
pReading through all the info here I know I don't want him to get a skin prick test again. So which is better, or is there really a difference, RAST or CAP RAST. Since we are testing again I feel I may as well get him tested for all legumes and nuts (satisfy my curiosity). Should I make my request more encompassing than this? He really hasn't had any negative reactions to other foods except possibly slightly to peas./p
pWhatever help anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated. Testing is April 9th (just short of Philip's 3rd birthday)./p
Need Testing Help
Posted on: Tue, 03/20/2001 - 8:12am
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First of all, congrats! I know you had been working hard on getting Philip into this school.
I know there was a thread somewhere on here that compared the rast to the cap rast but I can't find it. I'll try to look later when I have more time. But I can tell you that my son had the cap rast.
The allergist wanted him to have the cap rast because he felt it was more sensitive in measuring the level of IgE antibodies. He wants him to be tested every few years to keep track of his levels.
Evan was supposed to be tested for tree nuts in addition to testing for peanuts. The allergist wrote the order for it, but the hospital forgot to follow through. So if you do have him tested for other things, be sure to remind the hospital (or wherever his blood is drawn) what he should be tested for.
Since Philip reacts to touch, I completely agree that he should have the blood test. Good luck! Deanna
I was looking back through the articles and found this post that explains between CAP RAST and RAST testing. I hope it is ok to re-post it.
Mary
Member
Posts: 97
Registered: Jan 99
posted September 28, 1999 01:45 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Mich, a lot of allergist do not even know what a CAP Rast test is - so do not feel bad! From my experience, the small doctors groups use reference labs for testing, most use the standard Rast test. The CAP Rast test is a very sensitive rast test by Pharmacia Upjohn labs. This is the test that Drs. Sampson and Sicherer usually make reference to during the Food Allergy Network conferences. The CAP Rast test, like the Rast test measure specific IgE antibodies in the blood, the CAP Rast is more sensitive in measuring the levels than the standard Rast test.
In the FAN Newsletter, June July 1998, Dr. Samspon wrote an article about the peanut allergy and outgrowing it. He recommends determining the child's level of peanut-specific IgE antibody (Done commercially with a CAP Systems test). The article notes that FAN had a article in the April May 1998 newsletter about the CAP Rast test. You may want to call FAN 1-800-929-4040 and ask for a copy of that newsletter.
Hope this helps!
Thank you both for responding. I will definitely get that article from FAN. We've been having such great luck managing Philip's allergy - he still hasn't ingested anything with peanut, in the back of my mind I'm hoping his level is low or nonexistent, but I'm probably dreaming I know.
When his skin prick test was performed at 15 months the welt formed immediately and was huge. When satellite hives began appearing across his back where they hadn't even touched him with serum they decided to cut short the normal test time and cleaned off the serum. So maybe he won't be free of the PA but at least I'll get the other things checked for too.
Thanks again for taking the time to post and your invaluable help.