The decision to perform skin testing or blood testing for the evaluation of “allergic conditions” should be dictated by the patient’s clinical history. The recommendation to perform allergy testing can be made if the symptoms reported by the patient are “reasonably likely” to have been cause by the exposure to an environmental trigger called an “Allergen”. Conversely, testing for “allergy” without a clinical history suggestive of a true allergic reaction may not be justifiable. For example, the practice of routinely “screening” all patients by skin testing with fire ant or mosquito extract is not done by San Antonio Allergists. Only patients who report “generalized or systemic” allergic symptoms such as: hives, shortness of breath, dizziness or swelling of the body at a site distant from the sting, should undergo further evaluation by “allergy testing”. The detection of allergic antibodies (IgE) by skin testing or blood testing alone is insufficient for the diagnosis of true clinical “allergy”. A great number of persons in San Antonio have detectable allergic antibodies to fire ant venom (estimated to be at least 20% of the population) but the overwhelming majority do not experience serious allergic reactions after stings and are therefore not considered by Allergists to be “allergic” to fire ants.