Best Way to Understand Different Kinds of Anaphylaxis

Symptoms of anaphylaxis may occur after eating certain foods; following an insect sting, such as that from a bee or wasp (yellow jacket); or an allergen contact. In a sensitized person, the onset of anaphylaxis is characterized by a range of symptoms, although not necessarily all of the following will occur:

• Sense of foreboding, fear and apprehension
• Flushing of the face, swelling of the lips, mouth, eyes, or tongue
• Generalized itching and the appearance of hives
• Tightness in the mouth, chest, or throat

• Difficulty experienced in breathing or swallowing, associated with drooling, wheezing, choking, and coughing
• Running nose
• Vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea, and stomach pains
• Dizziness, unsteadiness, sudden fatigue, rapid heartbeat, and chills
• Pallor loss of consciousness, coma, and death

The most serious allergic reactions occur to foods, such as fish, tree nuts crustaceans, and peanuts, as well as to products that contain latex. While most of these problem foods are relatively easy to avoid, this is not necessarily the case with the groundnut, or peanut (Arachia hypogea), which is found in a surprisingly wide range of processed foods. The peanut is a member of the plant family Leguminosae, a family of plants that also includes beans, soya (soy) beans, kidney beans, peas, and lupins.

Peanut allergy

Of all the everyday foods, peanuts are the most problematic, and allergic reactions to them are often acute and severe. Such reactions can be fatal, and peanut allergy is the commonest cause of food-related allergy and anaphylaxis. In some parts of the world, the average person consumes about 5kg/11 lb of peanut products each year in the form of peanut butter sweets (candy), baked goods, and table nuts. In those cultures, 80 percent of children have been exposed to peanut products by their first birthday and 100 percent by their second. Since peanut products are in a large range of processed foods, allergic reactions can occur on the first exposure to an actual nut, indicating that prior sensitization has already taken place, perhaps without individuals even realizing it. Some infant milk formulas used to contain peanut products, and peanut allergens are secreted in breast milk. Sensitiza­tion may even occur in infants as a result of mothers eating peanut-containing products when pregnant.

Peanut and other nut products may be encountered at any meal in break­fast cereals, dried fruit and nut mixes, chilli and spaghetti sauces, gravies, oriental cooking, pastries, sweets (candies), ice creams, desserts, and garnishes. Removing the visible traces of nuts from food does not remove all traces of the offending protein.

In addition, it is possible for food contamination to occur through using utensils that have previously been in contact with peanuts. Concern also exists regarding protein contamination of peanut-oil preparations used in cooking. Such oils, also known in some countries as groundnut oil or arachis oil, may be sold simply as “vegetable oil”.

Refined peanut oil does not contain peanut protein (the component to which individuals become sensitized), but if that oil is used to cook a product containing peanuts and is then reused, any other food cooked in it may become contaminated. The reuse of vegetable oils is widespread in homes, fast-food outlets, and in some restaurants.

Latex allergy

Natural rubber latex is a processed plant product derived almost exclusively from the tree Hevea brasiliensis, found in Africa and South East Asia. Natural rubber latex should not be confused with butyl- or petroleum-based synthetic rubbers. Latex is found in:

• Medical supplies, including disposable gloves, airway and intravenous tubing, catheters, and syringes
• Condoms
• Erasers (rubbers)
• Athletic shoe soles
• Automobile tyres
• Elasticated underwear leg and waist bands
• Dummies and infant pacifiers

Latex allergy occurs, for the most part, in well-defined groups, such as health­care and rubber-industry workers, and in children with bladder problems requiring permanent catheterization.

In latex-sensitive people, the presence of the weeping fig (Reus benjamina) can cause asthma and other allergic reactions. This is because there is a cross-sensitivity between Reus benjamina and Hevea brasiliensis. The weeping fig is a common ornamental plant in homes and offices, and the significance of its presence may not be fully appreciated. Latex-allergy sufferers may also react to such common foods as bananas, avocados, papaya, peaches, nectarines, and chestnuts, due to cross-sensitivity.