Background: The most common tools of allergologic diagnostics are skin prick tests (SPT) and total serum IgE (IgE(total)) determinations.
Material/methods: The study was carried out in a group of 348 children aged 5 to 36 months. All the children underwent SPT using 12 food allergens and in 229 of them also 9 inhalant allergens were tested. Assessment of test positivity utilized relative criteria, i.e. the result was regarded as positive if a wheal with S surface area exceeding or equal to 0.25 of the surface area S0 of a control wheal was formed. In this study group, 291 had IgE(total) levels determined. They were divided into the groups with elevated and normal IgE(total) levels on the basis of two standards, i.e. the standards recommended by the manufacturer of the test reagents used to determine IgE(total) (BioWhittaker) and the population standards.
Results: Positive SPT results for food allergens were obtained in 15.8% of the examined children, for inhalant ones in 21.8%. The factors taken into account in the analysis of impact on SPT results included age, sex, living place and the use diet. Elevated IgE(total) levels according to the manufacturer's standards were detected in 35.0%, and according to the population standards in 67.0% of the examined children. The obtained positive test results were compared with elevated IgE(total) in the studied patients.
Conclusions: 1. Feasibility of SPT at this age. 2. Determination of normal IgE(total) range in the group of children below three requires further studies.