Allergy skin testing of children.

Skin tests are important aids in the management of patients with inhalant allergy. Their usefulness will be increased if these basic principles are kept in mind: (1) Scratch test should be sufficiently deep, (2) Antigen extracts used for intradermal tests should be fresh enough to insure their activity, (3) Two control tests should be used each time tests are done, (4) Hydroxyzine and promethazine may diminish skin reactivity; therefore, negative skin tests should not be relied upon until repeated in the absence of such medication, and (5) Skin tests for food allergy are quite unreliable, whether positive or negative. Food allergy is best studied by means of elimination trial diets.