Doctors can now find out if children have food allergies in a matter of seconds thanks to new research carried out by University College Cork.
An online calculator for doctors has been developed, which can predict the presence of the three most common food allergies.
The new device is reported to be 96% accurate, according to research published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
“The calculator should replace uncertainty for many doctors treating children with food allergies,” said Kevin Dalton of UCC’s Office of Technology Transfer.
Cork researchers, Dr Audrey Dunn Galvin and Professor Jonathan Hourihane of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, devised highly accurate allergen-specific algorithims for each of the most important food types — cow’s milk, egg and peanut.
Observing the outcomes of data on different factors, including a skin prick test, blood tests, allergic reaction history, gender and age, researchers were able to develop an accurate prediction model.
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