Allergy diagnostics
Let’s talk allergy diagnostics
Dog and cat allergy diagnostics
An accurate allergy diagnosis requires thorough physical examination including a complete clinical history. All other known causes of itching, such as parasites and infections, must be treated or ruled out before allergy can be diagnosed.
PAX® Serum Test
When other triggers of the symptoms are ruled out, atopy is diagnosed. The next step is to perform an IgE serum test to identify the responsible allergens. We provide the gold standard in allergy testing through the PAX® (Pet Allergy Xplorer) range of products.
PAX® is the first commercial serological IgE-specific test that uses allergen extracts and molecular components to identify allergen sensitivities.
Molecular allergology is a state-of-the-art approach to the detection of sensitisations, whereby defined single allergen components are used for the determination of specific IgE in place of traditionally-used allergen extracts. The molecular components are purified or recombinant proteins that provide a higher level of standardisation than allergen extracts and enable a more precise identification of IgE sensitisations.
This is a fundamental step to develop a relevant immunotherapy treatment or implement allergen-avoidance measures.
Read moreArtuvetrin® Skin Test
In addition to PAX®, an intradermal skin test can also be performed. Artuvetrin® Skin Test involves injecting small amounts of different allergens subcutaneously.
It is then possible to evaluate whether or not a local reaction develops at the site of the injection.
Read morePAX® Food Test & elimination diets
The patient should also receive an elimination diet in order to determine which specific foods trigger a hypersensitivity reaction. A third of atopic animals are also allergic to proteins in food, so it is crucial to make sure there is no concomitant food allergy.
PAX® offers an attractive solution to detect IgE sensitizations to molecular food allergens, which should prove of help to select allergens for oral food challenge and/or to select food ingredients unlikely to cause immediate reactions
Treatment of atopic dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis is a lifelong condition, and for that reason any treatment must be continued for life. The best solution is to avoid contact with allergens, but most of the time this is impossible. Therefore, the recommended treatment choice for atopy is immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy is the only treatment that stops the allergy from progressing, by making the immune system less sensitive, or totally insensitive, to the allergens that trigger the allergic reaction.
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