I have a friend whos son has a 4++ with egg allergies. He had scrammbled eggs, french toast, muffins etc. before they found out. He recently snuck into the kitchen, got an egg and broke it all over himself at his grandms house. He had no reaction. How can he be a 4++? He is also allergic to peanuts. I just dont understand. Hes had so many run-ins with no response. She also asked if he could have honey nut cheerios (which have almonds i think) and they told her to stay away from tree nuts. The first time she called, they told her they were 2 completely different things. I dont have any answers for her. Please help me, so I can help her. Thankyou!


Allergies are a bit unpredictable at times. And allergy tests, though helpful, can also produce false positives sometimes. So, it is possible that your friend's son isn't really that allergic to eggs. However, it's also possible that he has a newly developed allergy to eggs. Sometimes it takes repeated exposures to a trigger in a sensitive person before allergy symptoms actually begin to occur. For example, as a child, I had 3 different cats. Then, as an adolescent, I developed a severe cat allergy that persists today, decades later.
The fact that your friend's son got egg on his skin without a reaction doesn't mean a whole lot, because food allergies are usually internal, rather than a contact (external) allergy. Although, this can also vary... I have a contact allergy to shellfish, but can eat it without any problems at all.
As far as nut allegies, it's true that people can have distinct reactions to different types of nuts. However, if your friend's child is allergic to peanuts, the allergist was probably trying to err on the side of caution by suggesting avoidance of all nuts.
With food allergies, one way to test actual sensitivity is by exposing the person to one possible allergen at a time, and then watching for allergy symptoms. This can be dangerous to do without medical supervision, however, as food allergies often trigger severe allergic shock known as anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening if not treated immediately. So it would be wise for your friend to discuss the feasibility of doing such a thing with her child's doctor first.
Here's a link to another resource that you might find helpful in interpreting allergy test results:
http://www.foodallergy.org/downloads/FoodAllergyTesting.pdf