Newborn allergy screen developed in Australia

Australian researchers have developed a simple blood test to determine a child's risk of developing allergies, based on detection of a protein that appears in the immune cells of newborn babies. The researchers believe the test will enable earlier and more precise detection of allergy, allowing for more careful management of the disease.

Professor Tony Ferrante, an immunologist from SA Pathology and the Children's Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, says discovery of the protein marker in 2007 may be the most significant breakthrough in allergy testing for some decades. The blood test they have developed based on this marker has been found to be far more effective than previous indicators, such as a family's clinical history, or measuring the allergy-inducing antibody IgE.

The work is being conducted in collaboration with Professor Susan Prescott, from the University of Western Australia and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, and includes research into whether fish oil supplements given to both pregnant women and those who have just given birth can reduce the risks of the children developing allergies.

Children who have low levels of the protein marker have been found to be at greater risk of developing allergies and evidence found so far indicates that fish oil supplementation increases levels of the protein.

The studies and clinical trials have been funded by the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council.