With the arrival of spring, the allergy season is here again, and it is safe to say that the number of complaints caused by allergic symptoms will increase significantly.

Previously, we summarized the and treatment options of allergic symptoms causes of acute hives , and now we present the most dangerous hypersensitivity reaction, the potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis.

Although anaphylaxis is already mentioned in ancient Greek and Chinese medical documents, according to hieroglyphs, BC. In 2640, the death of Pharaoh Menesz could have been caused by a reaction caused by such a wasp sting. had to wait until the beginning of the century.

The term was coined by Charles Richet, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research on anaphylaxis, from the words ana "against" and phylaxis "defense".

Our knowledge of the frequency of anaphylaxis is limited, but we can say with certainty that it shows an increasing trend. It occurs in 4-6 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants per year. This is data concerning the reaction itself, so based on this, 400-600 cases should be expected in Hungary every year. Fortunately, the number of tragic cases is less. Between 500 and 1000 fatal reactions are reported annually in the USA (2.5 cases per million people), and 25 in Australia (0.66 cases per million people). Based on this, tragedies can occur in 7-25 cases in our country every year, and anaphylactic shock can be fatal.

Scary symptoms can develop as an immediate reaction in a few minutes (rarely in a few hours), they can affect several organs, they can occur one after the other or simultaneously, and as the process progresses, it leads to a life-threatening condition.

Symptoms of anaphylaxis

It usually starts with skin symptoms. This can be itching, reddening and hives spreading slowly or quickly to the whole body, local water-edema. The initial symptoms of anaphylaxis can also be a tingling sensation in the palms and soles, a metallic taste in the mouth, headache, restlessness. At the same time or a few minutes later, respiratory symptoms appear in the form of coughing, throat scratching, croaking, accompanied by a change in voice, difficulty breathing, wheezing, and suffocation. Edema of the larynx can cause obstruction of the airways, cessation of breathing and circulation. In the meantime, gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, urinary disturbances) may occur, and eventually anaphylactic shock may develop, with low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, sweating, fear of death, cardiac arrhythmia and circulatory arrest.

The most common causes of anaphylaxis

Although in principle we can be allergic to everything (with the exception of distilled water at room temperature), and thus the body's hypersensitivity reaction can also occur to almost any foreign substance, in reality

the most common causes of anaphylaxis are drug, insect venom and food allergies.

Food allergies predominate in childhood, drug and insect venom allergies predominate in older age.

Such a reaction can also occur in the case of so-called physical urticaria, but this is extremely rare.

It is also worth knowing that there is a difference between childhood and adult allergens. In childhood, milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, nuts and peanuts are the most common, in adulthood, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, soy, fish and "seafood".

We note here that due to a significant change in the nutritional culture, with the appearance of dietary supplements (colors, artificial flavor enhancers, preservatives), they appeared as a new environmental allergen on the palette, and their role must be taken into account in the near future.

But what to do in case of suspected anaphylaxis?

In addition to the unpleasant, frightening, fast-spreading symptoms detailed above, scratchy throat, globus sensation, hypotonia (low blood pressure) may indicate a threatening hypersensitivity, in which case emergency treatment is obviously required.

An ambulance must be called to the patient immediately, and if the life-saving epinephrine (adrenaline) treatment required for acute care is available, it must be administered.

What is it about? There is a solution to this disease. There is a self-injection device with which patients can self-inject the life-saving medicine that prevents the development of anaphylaxis, adrenaline. This autoinjector has been free in Hungary since July 2022 for patients with severe allergies.

In the event that food, medicine or insect venom causes clinical symptoms

hypersensitivity exists, patients must carry the life-saving epinephrine injection with them and learn how to use it.

In summary:

severe hypersensitivity reaction (anaphylaxis) is a life-threatening condition, causing several deaths in Hungary every year. However, this could be avoided by using the life-saving injection. If you suffer from bee-bee sting allergies or food allergies, ask your doctor or family doctor to prescribe the medicine or to send you to a specialist who will examine you and provide you with this life-saving auto-injector.

By providing the injection to these patients, we can avoid and reduce the number of anaphylaxis cases that claim several deaths in our country every year.

Author: Dr. György Temesszentandrasi

Photo: Pixabay