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Allergy
a damaging immune response by the body to a substance, especially a particular food, pollen, fur, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive.
synonyms: hypersensitivity, sensitivity, susceptibility; allergic reaction
“she developed an allergy to feathers”
The worldwide frequency of allergies has increased significantly over the past decades. The term allergy is used for type I hypersensitivity reactions (immediate type reactions), whose symptoms generally occur within 30-60 minutes after contact with the allergen.
The most frequent symptoms are:
- hay fever (rhinitis)
- conjunctivitis
- hives (urticaria)
- allergic asthma and as the most dangerous manifestation anaphylaxis (the anaphylactic shock).
The allergens causing type I hypersensitivity reactions are mostly proteins derived from the natural environment e.g. plant pollen, animal hair, food, mites and insect venoms.
A characteristic of type I allergies is the involvement of allergen specific immunoglobulins (antibodies) of class E (sIgE). Hence, the detection of sIgE is an important tool of modern allergy diagnostics.
ALFA (Allergy Lateral Flow Assay) is a rapid test for the qualitative determination of allergen specific Immunoglobulin E (sIgE).
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