See also Shock

The Three "A's" Of Anaphylaxis! Awareness Avoidance Action:"Anaphylaxis is the life-threatening form of allergic reaction. It is sudden,violent and frightening. It may begin with severe itching of the eyes or face, then other symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and difficulty with breathing may develop. If the reaction is not stopped at this point, the symptoms may become more severe, leading to a drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness and even death. The frequency of fatal and near-fatal "anaphylactic reactions" has risen over the past several years and is likely to continue to rise. This has been especially true of food induced anaphylactic reactions. Recent studies estimate that, in Canada, about one person in 100 is at-risk and there may be as many as 50 deaths a year; that's about one a week."
http://www.cadvision.com/allergy/3as.htm

Allergic Reactions And Anaphylactic Shock, Common First-Aid Procedures:"An allergic reaction is an exaggerated response or hypersensitivity by the body's immune system to what would otherwise be a harmless substance. Allergic reactions vary from merely annoying symptoms such as itchy eyes and runny nose to life-threatening anaphylactic shock response that may result in death from circulatory collapse or respiratory failure."
Columbia University College of P & S Complete Home Medical Guide
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/texts/guide/hmg14_0002.html

Allergic Reaction / Anaphylaxis:"Anaphylaxis is an acute, generalized, and violent antigen-antibody reaction that can be rapidly fatal. An Anaphylactic Reaction may present as a mild to severe response; management is based upon severity. There are multiple causes of anaphylaxis: most commonly these causes are injected substances or drugs such as: penicillin, cephalosporins, sulfonamides, iron, and thiamine. Other causes include food sensitivities, vaccines, contrast dyes, insect sting(s) and other environmental allergens. Most reactions occur within thirty minutes following allergen exposure, although the onset of symptoms can vary from several seconds to hours."
http://www.vgernet.net/bkand/state/anaph.html

Anaphylactic Reaction:"Anaphylaxis is characterized as an explosive event resulting from release of histamine and preformed mediators causing profound end organ dysfunction (cardiac, respiratory, GI, dermatologic, neurologic)."
Health On the Net Foundation
http://www.hon.ch/Library/Theme/Allergy/Glossary/anaphylaxis.html

Anaphylactic shock:"In anaphylactic shock, the chemicals that are released overwhelm the body, causing some or all of the following symptoms: itchiness, swelling of the throat and/or various parts of the body, hives, dyspnea, wheeze, chest tightness, faintness, feeling of apprehension, collapse, death if untreated"
http://www.lung.ca/asthma/allergies/lifethreat.html

Anaphylactic & Anaphylactoid Reactions During Surgery - An Outline:"Below is an outline from a talk given to the Department of Anesthesia at UCSF. A case presentation was given on a patient who had two life-threatening episodes of anaphylaxis after opthalmologic surgery. The second episode might have been prevented if the proper workup had been performed. Although specific skin testing instructions are given below, the following is not intended as a guide for diagnosing and treating surgical anaphylaxis."
http://www.gate.net/~asthma/articles/Anesthesia-MD.html

Anaphylaxis:"Anaphylaxis refers to a severe allergic reaction in which there are prominent dermal and systemic signs and symptoms. The full-blown syndrome includes urticaria (hives) and/or angioedema with hypotension and bronchospasm. The classical form, described in 1902, involves prior sensitization with later reexposure, producing symptoms via an immunologic mechanism. An anaphylactoid reaction produces a very similar clinical syndrome but is not immune-mediated. Treatment of both conditions is similar and the term anaphylaxis will refer to both conditions unless otherwise specified in the text."
Emedicine.com Main Office
1004 Farnam Street, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68102
Office: 402-341-3222 Fax: 402-341-3336C edit@eMedicine.com
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic25.htm

Fatal Anaphylactic Reactions To Food In Children:"The number of deaths caused by anaphylactic reactions to food is increasing each year.1- 4 The reason for this increase is unknown; however, one study has implicated widespread use of protein additives in commercially prepared food.5 In this statement we review characteristics of children at risk and of high-risk foods, mechanisms of anaphylaxis and important aspects of diagnosis and treatment."
http://www.cps.ca/english/statements/AL/al94-01.htm

Peanuts And Panic: Coping With Anaphylaxis:"Dr Richard Pumphrey, at the immunology unit of St Mary's Hospital in Manchester, looks into the most severe reaction to allergy, anaphylaxis."
http://www.dotpharmacy.co.uk/upnuts.html

Pediatric Anaphylactic Reaction, Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Committee of New York City: Medical Control Options
http://eilat.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/nycems/555.htm

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