A new blood test has been developed to uncover peanut allergies in the United Kingdom.
In the UK, nut allergies are currently diagnosed by pricking the skin with a needle coated with the allergen, and if this test proves inconclusive increasing amounts of allergen are ingested orally, until a reaction does or doesn’t occur.
This new blood test positively identified peanut allergies at a significantly higher rate than both these methods, and researchers estimated that its adoption will reduce the number of highly stressful “oral food challenges” by 65%.