New blood test to spot peanut allergy

A new blood test could make it much easier and cheaper to identify children with peanut allergies.

The highly accurate test looks for biomarkers released by mast cells, white blood cells of a specific type that form part of the immune system.

In a study involving 174 children the Mast Activation Test (MAT) made a correct diagnosis 98 per cent of the time.

Currently peanut allergy is confirmed using an unreliable skin-prick test and “oral food challenge” (OFC) – a time-consuming process that involves feeding the patient increasingly larger doses of peanut.

The new test is five times cheaper to carry out than an OFC. It could act as a second-line tool when skinprick tests are inconclusive before referring children for an OFC, say the researchers.