Yummy! Can I eat it?

Knowing whether a child with an egg allergy tolerates cooked eggs enables them to adjust their diet and improve their quality of life. To confirm tolerance, the child undergoes oral provocation tests in hospital. To diagnose egg allergy, the allergist performs prick tests and takes a blood sample to test for the presence of IgE antibodies specific to egg allergens. Based on cohort studies, several “threshold values” for prick-test diameter or IgE antibodies specific to egg white or ovomucoid (one of the major allergens in egg white) have been proposed to predict tolerance to cooked egg. These values vary according to study and age group.

This work was initiated as part of the ANR Ovonutrial project, and carried out as part of a clinical protocol involving INRA (BIA and STLO units), AGROCAMPUS OUEST and the CHUs of Toulouse, Angers, Nantes and Necker-Enfants Malades, have defined new markers of tolerance to cooked egg, independent of age and level of sensitization, based on individual variations in reactivity measured against several egg fractions, raw or cooked, in children allergic to egg. These markers could be used to monitor allergic children and limit the need for oral provocation tests.