[Skin tests for trophallergens and asthma]

The place of trophallergens in the allergy investigation of asthmatic children is controversial. Asthma is only rarely the isolated manifestation of food allergy. The clinical history is essential for research of the associated signs that reveal a food allergy. In the absence of these associated signs, the presence of a positive test for trophallergens only rarely reflects a true food allergy, of which the presence can only be assured by a double blind oral provocation test. In addition, in nurslings, the presence of a positive skin test to a trophallergen indicates atopy in the infant, but is only a mediocre predictive factor of eventual asthma, in the absence of an associated clinical allergy.