Allergy Test in Singapore

It depends on how much you test. A single allergen costs from $54.50 by skin prick or from $66.49 by blood. A Phadiatop inhalant screen is $106.82, focused panels start at $289.94, and the comprehensive molecular panels are $739.02 for 59 allergens, $800.00 for 77 and $998.00 for 300. A doctor consultation from $49.05 is required before testing, because the allergens worth testing are chosen from your history. Full pricing is listed and searchable on this page.

A skin prick test places a drop of allergen extract on the skin and pricks the surface; a raised wheal within about 15–20 minutes suggests sensitisation. A blood test measures specific IgE antibodies to an allergen in a blood sample.

Skin prick gives same-visit results and is inexpensive per allergen, but needs antihistamines stopped beforehand and clear skin at the test site. Blood testing is unaffected by antihistamines or eczema, tests many allergens from one draw, and is preferred if you have had a severe reaction. Your doctor will advise which is more suitable.

For skin prick testing, yes — antihistamines suppress the skin response and can produce a false negative, so we ask you to stop them for a week beforehand. The interval that matters clinically is nearer 3–7 days depending on the medicine, but a week covers all of them.

For allergy blood testing, no. Specific IgE is measured in the blood and antihistamines do not affect the result, which is one reason blood testing is chosen when someone cannot come off their medication. Never stop a prescribed medicine without checking with your doctor first.

Skin prick results are read during the same visit, about 15–20 minutes after the pricks are placed. Allergy blood test results generally take 1–2 weeks, though the 300 allergen molecular panel is usually ready within about 3 working days. Reports are sent by email and a doctor will go through the findings with you and what they mean for your day-to-day management.

House dust mite is the dominant one in our climate and is linked to a large share of allergic symptoms locally. Allergic rhinitis is very common — Singapore’s Agency for Care Effectiveness estimates it affects more than 30% of the population, most of them children and young adults. Other frequent triggers are cat and dog dander, cockroach, mould spores, and tropical pollens such as Acacia.

Among foods, shellfish, egg, cow’s milk, peanut and tree nuts account for most reactions, though food allergy is far less common here than airborne allergy — fewer than 3% of children in Singapore’s GUSTO birth cohort had one in their first four years.

Standard testing measures your response to a whole allergen extract. Molecular testing, also called component-resolved diagnostics, measures the response to individual proteins within that allergen.

This matters because some proteins are strongly associated with severe reactions while others mainly cause cross-reactivity — the reason a birch pollen allergy can make apple feel itchy. Knowing which component you react to helps separate a genuine food allergy from cross-reactivity, so avoidance advice can be narrower and more accurate. The 300 allergen panel combines 218 molecular components with 82 whole extracts from a single blood sample.

Not on its own. A positive result shows sensitisation — your immune system has made IgE against that allergen — but some people are sensitised without ever reacting to it.

An allergy diagnosis is made by reading the result together with your symptom history: what happened, how soon after exposure, and how reproducible it is. This is why testing follows a consultation rather than replacing one, and why testing a very wide panel without a clinical reason can produce findings that are hard to act on.

Yes. Both blood and skin prick testing can be done in children, and a Paediatric / Common Allergy Panel covering 15 frequent childhood triggers is available. Blood testing is often easier in younger children or where eczema covers the usual skin test sites.

Food allergy is most common in early childhood, and many children outgrow milk and egg allergy, so repeat testing over time is sometimes advised to see whether a diagnosis still stands.

A doctor reviews the results against your symptoms and sets out what to avoid and what is likely safe, which is often the more useful half of the report.

Management usually combines trigger avoidance with treatment of the symptoms — antihistamines, nasal corticosteroid sprays for allergic rhinitis, or emollients and topical treatment for eczema. Where reactions have been severe, an adrenaline auto-injector and a written action plan may be advised, and referral for immunotherapy can be discussed.