Giant Eagle, Allegra offer free allergy screenings

PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle has joined forces with allergy medication Allegra to offer free in-store allergy screenings for patients ages 18 years and older.

The supermarket retailer said screenings would be held on Saturday at select stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The free screenings also were held earlier this month on Sept. 10 (stores across Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) and Sept. 17 (stores across Ohio and Pennsylvania).

How the screening works: A small blood sample is collected by a simple fingerstick. The sample then is sent to a laboratory for analysis, which will test for the 10 most common allergens — milk, wheat, egg, cat dander, timothy grass, Bermuda grass, mountain cedar, ragweed, mold and dust mite.

Patients receive their results in the mail within three weeks, and those with positive results for any of the allergens indicated will receive a personalized allergy plan with action items to help alleviate symptoms, according to Giant Eagle's website. Patients also are encouraged to share the results with their doctor to develop a treatment plan for allergy relief.