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Background: Despite the increasing frequency of anaphylaxis, there is inadequate information on the etiology and clinical features in various countries, regions and age groups, especially in developing countries., Objective: Our aim is to assess the etiology and clinical findings of anaphylaxis in Turkey. Gathering reliable data about the etiology and clinical findings of anaphylaxis in the general population will decrease the related morbidity and mortality., Method: We obtained the names and phone numbers of individuals who had been prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector with a diagnosis of anaphylaxis from ministry of health. Demographic data, clinical history of the first episode of anaphylaxis including the triggering agent, clinical findings, course of hospitalization, and the management of anaphylaxis were obtained by phone survey., Results: A total of 843 patients with a mean age of 21.4±17.3 years were evaluated. There was a significant male predominance among children younger than 10 years of age but a female predominance in older subjects. The most common causes of anaphylaxis were foods(40.1%) in children and bee venom(60.8%) in adults. The biphasic reaction rate was 4.3% and the median length of stay at an emergency department was 4.0 hours. Almost 60% of the patients had recurrent anaphylaxis episodes. Only 10.7% of the cases were prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector at their first anaphylaxis episode and only 59.2% of the patients were referred to an allergist during discharge from the emergency department., Conclusions: In Turkey, bee venom was the most common cause of anaphylaxis, followed by food and drug. While more than a half of patients reported recurrent attacks; only 10% had been prescribed epinephrine auto-injector kit after their first episode. Strategies to improve the anaphyalxis management are therefore urgently required.

Background: Anaphylaxis is increasingly reported in infancy. Diagnosis and management of anaphylaxis is difficult, and data are limited in infants. The aim of the present study was to determine the clinical course and management strategies used for anaphylaxis in infancy., Methods: Patients attending to our clinic and who had anaphylaxis under 2 years old were evaluated. Sixty-three patients were enrolled for the study. The mean ± standard deviation age was 10.6 ± 6.1 months (median, 11 months)., Results: Anaphylaxis occurred at home in 48 infants (76.2%). Food was the most common causative agent (n = 52 [82.5%]), with cow's milk (n = 21 [40.4%]) and egg white (n = 13 [25%]) being the most frequent. Medication was the other causative agent (n = 9 [14.3%]), with antibiotics being the most frequent (n = 6 [66.7%]). The clinical manifestations were cutaneous (95.2%) and respiratory symptoms (79.4%). The median time lapse between contact and onset of symptoms was 10 minutes (5-15 minutes) (median, interquartile range [IQR] 25-75%). The total duration of symptoms was 2 hours (0.5-3 hours) (median, IQR 25-75%). Six patients had mild (9.5%), 40 moderate (63.5%), and 17 severe (27%) symptoms. A biphasic course was noticed in two infants (3.2%), with a symptom-free interval between a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 4 hours. Forty-three (68.3%) received H1 antihistamines, 31 received corticosteroids (49.2%), and 23 received adrenaline (36.5%). Only one patient needed intensive care., Conclusion: This study provided detailed clinical information in the diagnosis of anaphylaxis in infants. Diagnosing and managing anaphylaxis are difficult in infancy. Arrangements for definition of symptoms should be made in the new anaphylaxis guidelines.

Honey allergy is a very rare, but serious health condition. In this study, we presented six patients who described systemic allergic reactions after ingestion of honey. Three of the six patients had suffered from anaphylaxis. Honey-specific IgE was measured and skin-prick tests for honey were performed to diagnose honey allergy. The results of honey-specific IgE of all patients were positive. Four patients had high serum-specific IgE for honey bee venom and two of five patients had also experienced anaphylaxis due to bee stings. Skin-prick tests with honey and pollens were positive in five patients. Honey is one of the foods that can cause severe systemic reactions. Specific IgE and skin-prick tests are helpful for the diagnosis of honey allergy.

Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening condition. There are limited data about the etiology and the clinical characteristics in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of anaphylaxis patients attending our pediatric allergy clinic. We conducted a prospective analysis of patients who were admitted to our allergy clinic for anaphylaxis from 2010 to 2012. Ninety-six patients were evaluated during the study period. The mean age was 7.4 ± 5.2 years. Venom, food, and drugs were the most common causative agents responsible for 31 (32.3%), 30 (31.3%), and 26 (27.1%) of the cases, respectively. Foods implicated most frequently were peanuts and nuts (n = 9; 30.0%), cow's milk (n = 7; 23.3%), and egg white (n = 6; 20.0%). The clinical manifestations during anaphylaxis in order of frequency were cutaneous (97.9%), respiratory (86.5%), gastrointestinal (42.7%), neurological (37.5%), and cardiovascular symptoms (30.2%). A biphasic course was noticed in five cases (5.2%). Of the 91 patients, 79 (86.8%) received H1-antihistamines, 73 (80.2%) received corticosteroids, 40 (44.4%) received adrenaline, 38 (41.8%) received fluid replacement therapy, 18 (19.8%) received β2-mimetics, and 8 (8.8%) received H2-antihistamines. According to severity, 7.3% of patients had mild, 59.4% had moderate, and 33.3% had severe anaphylaxis. Food and bee venom allergy were the most common etiologies. Adrenaline, the first-line treatment of anaphylaxis, was administered in only 44.4% of our cases.

Objective: Parents of children with food allergy (FA) have to feed their children safely while they are trying to prevent exposure to the offending food. In this study we aimed to identify their problems in order to help developing measures for improving quality of life of parents of children with FA. Material and Methods: A prospective multicenter study was carried out in Turkey between May 2015 and January 2016. Study participants included parents of children who had anaphylaxis due to FA. A face to face questionnaire was Results: Parents of 70 patients were included of which, 62.9% were male, and median age was 48.5 months. Fifty percent had problems about family life, 51.4% had problems about outside activities. While 74% reported they helped each other, 22% claimed they had problems with their spouse because of FA. Of the parents, 80% were anxious and 75.7% reported they overprotect their children; 52.9% had problems about school life and 12.9% reported that school did not want to register their children. Of parents, 54.3% had problems with friend relations, 10% of parents reported that their children were alienated by their friends. Seventy percent know how to use adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) but 40% were afraid to use. Occupied mothers, mothers with lower education and parents of children with cow's milk allergy were more often affected (p<0.05). Conclusion: Health care workers must be aware of the problems of parents and be prepared to help them. Parents must be informed about AAI use in every visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asthma Allergy Immunology / Astim Allerji Immunoloji is the property of Turkish National Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Anaphylaxis is increasingly reported in infancy. Diagnosis and management of anaphylaxis is difficult, and data are limited in infants. The aim of the present study was to determine the clinical course and management strategies used for anaphylaxis in infancy. Methods: Patients attending to our clinic and who had anaphylaxis under 2 years old were evaluated. Sixty-three patients were enrolled for the study. The mean ± standard deviation age was 10.6 ± 6.1 months (median, 11 months). Results: Anaphylaxis occurred at home in 48 infants (76.2%). Food was the most common causative agent (n = 52 [82.5%]), with cow's milk (n = 21 [40.4%]) and egg white (n = 13 [25%]) being the most frequent. Medication was the other causative agent (n = 9 [14.3%]), with antibiotics being the most frequent (n = 6 [66.7%]). The clinical manifestations were cutaneous (95.2%) and respiratory symptoms (79.4%). The median time lapse between contact and onset of symptoms was 10 minutes (5-15 minutes) (median, interquartile range [IQR] 25-75%). The total duration of symptoms was 2 hours (0.5-3 hours) (median, IQR 25-75%). Six patients had mild (9.5%), 40 moderate (63.5%), and 17 severe (27%) symptoms. A biphasic course was noticed in two infants (3.2%), with a symptom-free interval between a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 4 hours. Forty-three (68.3%) received H1 antihistamines, 31 received corticosteroids (49.2%), and 23 received adrenaline (36.5%). Only one patient needed intensive care. Conclusion: This study provided detailed clinical information in the diagnosis of anaphylaxis in infants. Diagnosing and managing anaphylaxis are difficult in infancy. Arrangements for definition of symptoms should be made in the new anaphylaxis guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asthma Allergy Immunology / Astim Allerji Immunoloji is the property of Turkish National Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Allergic diseases are common during school age. Asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and food allergy are the most frequent. Children with allergic disease have problems such as low quality of life and impaired school performance along with school absenteeism. Children with food allergy are under risk of anaphylaxis that can lead to death. These data show the necessity of taking preventive measures in schools where the allergic child spends most of his time. Education of school personnel, improving the physical conditions of the school, identification of allergic children and implementing measures to help the child when an emergency occurs are needed. These preventive measures can help raise the quality of life and improve school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Anaphylaxis is a severe, rapidly progressive, life-threatening allergic reaction which can cause death. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of definitive therapy are essential to reduce the mortality and morbidity. The aim of our study was to determine the knowledge and practices of primary care physicians about the diagnosis and the treatment of anaphylaxis. Materials and Methods: A survey was carried out with primary care physicians between April-June 2012 in Ankara. The physicians were asked to answer the questions which consisted of case reports with/without a history of anaphylaxis. Results: A total of 107 primary care physicians were participated in the survey. 58 (54.2%) of the participants were male. Participating physicians had a mean of 18.1 ± 5.8 years of experience. Only 18 (16.8%) of them were trained on anaphylaxis. None of them answered all the questions correctly. The rate of correct answers was 53.7% for all questions, while it was 54% for questions about anaphylaxis. The proportion of correct answer for non-anaphy-lactic cases was 53.8%. Seven participant physician could not answer any questions related with anaphylactic cases. The proportion of adrenaline usage as a first choice was 12.8%. There was no gender differences in terms of the proportion of correct answers (p= 0.894). Conclusion: About half of the primary care physicians can not recognize anaphylactic cases. Moreover, it is determined that the majority of the physicians who diagnose anaphylaxis do not use adrenaline as a first choice medication. These findings demonstrate that there is a lack of knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis. Educational programs should be focused on improving the standard of practice among primary care physicians regarding anaphylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]