R. Wahl et al., THE POSITION OF THE DIPSTICK ALLERGODIP BY IN-VITRO ALLERGY DIAGNOSIS- RESULTS OF A FIELD-STUDY, Allergologie, 21(10), 1998, pp. 481-488
In contrast to classical in vitro allergy-diagnostic tests dipstick sy
stems do not require the use of complicated apparatus for the determin
ation of specific IgE in sera of allergic patients. The handling is ve
ry easy. Allergodip is a new development in the area of dipstick techn
ology. A field study was conducted with a pilot batch in order to asse
ss the potential of this test system. The concordance between data of
Allergodip with the classical EAST and CAP methods was greater than or
equal to 77% for the tested allergens. Furthermore, there was a good
concordance with skin prick test results, varrying between 67 - 100%.
Whilst skin test results may be influenced by the administration of an
tihistamines, our investigation of sera collected from patients who ha
d swallowed antihistamines showed that the Allergodip results were not
influenced. Both sera and plasma can be used for the measurements. Du
e to these data and data obtained from other centers Allergodip can be
seen as a significant addition to allergy diagnosis.