Anaphylaxis - Causes, treatment and prevention

Anaphylaxis is the most serious, easily fatal allergy not only seen in young children but also adults if not diagnosed and dealt with promptly.

Anaphylaxis is always a confusing incident for not only patients' family members but also doctors. The disease appears quickly, immediately or after 30 minutes of using drugs, testing, bee stings or after eating a strange food.

If the symptoms appear earlier, the more severe the disease is, the higher the mortality rate. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the causes, manifestations, ways to handle and prevent emergency for quick, timely and accurate treatment for patients.

Causes of anaphylaxis

There are many causes of anaphylaxis, not just because of the vaccine injection as many people believe.

Drug

Drugs are the leading cause of anaphylaxis for patients. The drug route into the body as intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, in the skin; oral, inhaled, ophthalmic, vaginal or topical medications . can cause anaphylactic shock. However, intravenous route is the most dangerous. All drugs can cause anaphylaxis for patients, most commonly β lactam antibiotics, anti-inflammatory analgesics, muscle relaxants, anticonvulsants, contrast, anesthesia, anesthesia .

Foods

Foods of animal and plant origin that can cause anaphylaxis such as mackerel, tuna, shrimp, shrimp, snails, pupae, eggs, milk, pineapple, potatoes, peanuts, soybeans, nuts and additives.

Illustration.

Insect venom

When insects like bees sting; Snake, centipede, scorpion, spider . bite, the amount of toxins in insect venom released will cause anaphylactic shock to the victim.

Other causes such as pollen, resin, .

Manifestations of people with anaphylaxis

Clinical symptoms of anaphylaxis due to drugs or other causes are basically the same and occur in all internal organs in the body.

Respiratory system

Patients with dyspnea, asphyxia, cyanosis, respiratory failure due to bronchospasm cause suffocation. Anaphylactic shock causes edema of the vocal cords, tracheal edema, and bronchospasm with pulmonary edema.

Cardiovascular system

Anaphylaxis causes varicose veins, hypotension, cardiovascular collapse often occurs early as a result of the chemicals introduced into the body. Lack of oxygen in the blood, decreased volume of circulation leads to acidosis and reduced myocardial contractility is a severe stage of anaphylactic shock.

Nerve system

The patient quickly suffered from headache, dizziness, limb tremor, lethargy, babbling, convulsions all over the body and could faint or coma.

Digestive

If anaphylaxis is caused by food or oral medications, patients will experience severe abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, uncontrollable diarrhea, even gastrointestinal bleeding.

Skin

The skin of anaphylaxis with rash, urticaria, Quincke edema (is a rapid and sudden swelling in both the lower and upper surfaces of the skin and mucous membranes, mainly on the tongue, lips, eyes, around mouth, hands, feet, pharynx and genitals).

The severity of anaphylaxis depends on the degree of sensitivity of each body, the amount and speed of absorption of foreign substances into the body and depending on the duration of treatment. Early signs to note: itchy hands, feet, numbness, tongue, difficulty breathing, tachycardia, jittery feeling, panic.

Artwork: Internet.

What to do to prevent anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis can occur very early or sometimes later than a few hours, but when anaphylaxis has occurred, progression will be very fast within 1–2 minutes and is in critical condition, very now It is difficult to reverse the situation. Therefore, take note of the following to prevent anaphylaxis:

• If you have a history of allergy, talk to your doctor carefully when you get a prescription because people like you will be very allergic to medication. Always bring with you all kinds of allergy medications.
• When you are injecting drugs, if you notice unusual sensations such as restlessness, panic, fear, numbness, etc., tell your doctor immediately to stop the injection and promptly treat it as anaphylaxis.
• After the injection, you should stay in the injection room for about 15-30 minutes, so do not return immediately to prevent anaphylaxis that occurs later on depending on the person.
• Reasonable and safe use of drugs, right indication.
• When eating strange food, try a small amount to consider your body's reaction. Wait after 24 hours to eat again if there is no unusual phenomenon. For those with allergic sites it is very easy to be shocked by eating strange substances.

While waiting for an emergency doctor to do the following:

• Place the patient in a higher foot position than the head.
• Loosen clothes and cover the sick person.
• If the patient is vomiting or bleeding from the mouth, turn the patient on his side to choke.
• Talk constantly with the patient so that the patient can keep his or her breath, avoiding falling into a coma
• If the patient stops breathing, start cardiopulmonary resuscitation with chest compressions and breath inhalation.
• Check if the cause of anaphylaxis is caused.

Whether mild, moderate or severe anaphylactic shock must be taken immediately, the adrenalin must be used immediately . The prognosis is good or not depending on the early use and sufficient dose of adrenalin for patients.

Emergency care for patients with anaphylaxis must be done in a place with adequate medical expertise and assistive devices, shock-proof boxes. So, immediately take those with anaphylactic shock to the nearest medical facility in the shortest time possible.

Anaphylaxis is divided into 3 levels, which are mild, medium and heavy.

Slight movement

With symptoms of headache, fear, dizziness, there may be urticaria, rash, Quincke edema, nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, involuntary urinary tract, tachycardia, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing .

Average movements

Patients panicked, fear of death, dizziness, tingling throughout the body, difficulty breathing, convulsions, sometimes coma, abdominal pain, pale skin, pale mucosa, dilated pupils, small fast vessels, low blood pressure or not measured.

Severe developments

Happened in the first minute with lightning speed. The patient comatose, suffocating, pale skin, blood pressure is not measured, death after a few minutes, rarely lasts a few hours.

Watch out for late happenings after anaphylaxis such as allergic myocarditis, nephritis, glomerulonephritis. These complications can lead to death. There were cases of anaphylaxis that had been treated but 1-2 weeks later, bronchial asthma, urticaria, and Quincke edema were repeated many times.