At Nemours, we don’t believe allergy problems should slow your child down. That’s why our highly trained and experienced team is dedicated to diagnosing and treating all types of allergic and immune system conditions in children, from hay fever to food allergies to asthma and immune deficiency.
Your child’s initial visit with our board-certified doctors and nurse practitioners will include a complete medical and family history assessment as well as a comprehensive physical exam. We will also ask many questions about your child’s symptoms, their severity and timing (for example, do they appear or tend to worsen at a certain time of the year, after eating a certain food, or during exercise?).
Some of the conditions we commonly see include:
- wheezing
- eczema
- hives
- food reactions
- allergies affecting the nose and eyes
- allergies affecting the stomach and intestines
- drug reactions
- exercise intolerance
- recurrent infections or cold-like symptoms
- recurrent fever
Based on our findings, we may then perform further tests to help diagnose your child’s problem, such as:
- skin testing – this involves pricking the skin with a potential allergen (a substance that can cause an allergic reaction) and then evaluating the skin’s response
- patch testing – applying various adhesive patches that each contain a potential allergen to the skin and then checking the skin’s reaction 48 hours later
- food challenges – feeding your child small amounts of a food suspected to be an allergen in the presence of a doctor, who can evaluate and, if necessary, safely counteract any allergic response
We may also order blood tests that check for specific antibodies (cells made by the immune system in response to certain allergens) as well as tests that evaluate the overall function of the immune system. In addition, breathing tests to check your child’s lung function, chest X-rays, or other diagnostic evaluations may be done.
When it comes to treatment, our goals are simple: to relieve your child’s symptoms as quickly as we can and to give you the tools you’ll need to manage your child’s allergies confidently at home. Pharmacologic treatment and immunotherapy are available for children with immune system disorders.
A Team Approach
Our Allergy/Immunology team works closely with experts from other pediatric specialty areas – such as Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialists for patients with chronic sinusitis, the Digestive Health team for patients with symptoms affecting the digestive tract, and Infectious Diseases specialists for children with recurring infections– to provide a long-term management plan tailored to your child’s individual needs.
For children with asthma, our comprehensive Asthma Centers – run jointly by the Allergy and Pulmonology teams at both the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida – offer fully coordinated care, providing children and families with the tools they need to successfully manage the disease.
All of your child’s team members have access to our electronic medical record system, called Nemours One. This system allows your child’s caregivers to communicate and share medical information about your child quickly and efficiently. Team members can view clinical notes, lab results, other test results and your child’s medical history on their computers at any time and simultaneously.
Just as important, our team strives to create a close relationship with the children and families we serve. Educating families – about how your child’s allergy is triggered, how to avoid those triggers, and what treatment options are available for allergic or immune problems – is one of our most important goals. To that end, our nurses and respiratory therapists are available to inform and assist you in the use of any treatment devices we may prescribe (such as inhalers or EpiPens®) and to answer any questions you may have.