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Fatal Allergic Reactions to Foods

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology

  • 291 Accesses

Synonyms

Allergic reactions to foods; Anaphylaxis; Severe anaphylactic reactions to foods

Definition

Fatal allergic reactions to foods: Death directly attributable to the physiologic consequences of an IgE-, mixed IgE-/non-IgE-, or non-IgE-mediated hypersensitivity resulting from the ingestion of a food antigen. Physiologic consequences include the following in isolation or combination: hypovolemic shock from GI fluid loss in non-IgE-mediated allergy, respiratory collapse from angioedema or bronchospasm in IgE-mediated allergy, and distributive shock from vasodilation and/or volume redistribution in IgE-mediated allergy.

Epidemiology

An estimated 150–200 annual deaths in the United States are directly attributable to anaphylactic reactions to foods (Sampson 2003). Per the United Kingdom (UK) fatal anaphylaxis register, 2.3 deaths per 100,000 people age 15–24 with nut allergies were attributed to anaphylactic reactions to peanuts or tree nuts. The median age at the time of the fatal...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Allergy/Immunology, Duke University School of Medicine, DUMC 3878, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Andrew D. Collins & Laurie M. McWilliams

Authors
  1. Andrew D. Collins
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  2. Laurie M. McWilliams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew D. Collins .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Ian R. Mackay

  2. Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Noel R. Rose

  3. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Dennis K. Ledford

  4. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Richard F. Lockey

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Collins, A.D., McWilliams, L.M. (2014). Fatal Allergic Reactions to Foods. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_218

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_218

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9193-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9194-1

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