Allergy information for children, young people and their families

Getting an allergy diagnosis can be a confusing and overwhelming time for families. The RCPCH has developed care pathways for children with allergic conditions. These pathways tell health professionals what they need to know in order to provide the best care possible for you (or your child).

Leaflets

In order to help you and your family understand what you should expect we have developed a series of leaflets for understanding allergy care:

• Anaphylaxis (PDF, 51KB, 2 pages)
• Angio-oedema (PDF, 45KB, 2 pages)
• Asthma (PDF, 49KB, 2 pages)
• Asthma - emergency (PDF, 49KB, 2 pages)
• At an allergy appointment (PDF, 47KB, 2 pages)
• Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) (PDF, 56KB, 2 pages)
• Drug allergy (PDF, 46KB, 2 pages)
• Eczema (PDF, 39KB, 2 pages)
• Eczema - flares (PDF, 39KB, 2 pages)
• Food allergy (PDF, 48KB, 2 pages)
• Latex allergy (PDF, 46KB, 2 pages)
• Mastocytosis (PDF, 37KB, 2 pages)
• Rhinitis (PDF, 49KB, 2 pages)
• Urticaria (PDF, 45KB, 2 pages)
• Venom allergy (PDF,46KB, 2 pages)

A whole new vocabulary comes with an allergy diagnosis, so we have created a useful glossary:

Understanding the language of allergy (PDF, 275KB, 4 pages)

Videos

We have also made some videos that we hope will help you and your familiy with your allergic condition. You can find the videos on the RCPCH allergy channel on YouTube, or select the individual links below:

How to manage eczema:

• Moisturisers (emollients) for eczema
• Medicated creams/ointments for babies
• Baby bath routine 1
• Baby bath routine 2

What it is like to live with eczema:

• Finding out about eczema
• Good stuff, bad stuff
• The impact on the family

What a skin-prick test will look like:

• The skin-prick test
• Skin-prick testing if you have younger child
• How the health professional reads the skin-prick test results
• How the health professional  should explain the skin-prick test results

Please note: a skin-prick test should only be performed by a profesionally trained health professional who has had formal training in conducting an allergy test.