Food allergies afflict 6% of children and 2% of adults and for many of those people this reaction can be a medical emergency that needs to be treated with medication. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction to a food or environmental factor that a person is allergic to. Approximately 1.24% to 16.8% of the population of the US is at risk of having such a reaction as the direct result of a reaction to one or more allergens. These allergens can range from foods they ingest to bee stings, or drugs such as penicillin.

There are many food allergies that can cause anaphylaxis with nuts, fish, shellfish, milk and eggs seeming to be the most common ones.  By definition Anaphylaxis is a severe and possibly life threatening allergic reaction. Anaphylaxis is caused by an overreaction of the immune system which then sets off a chemical chain reaction. During an anaphylactic reaction a person’s body floods with chemicals causing a drop in blood pressure, the airways swell and begin to narrow making it difficult to breathe.  Anaphylaxis can be accompanied by rash, vomiting, a weak rapid pulse and nausea.

Anaphylaxis needs to be treated immediately if it is not a person can go into anaphylactic shock, lose consciousness and potentially this condition can kill. Many people who are at risk for this condition carry what is commonly called an EpiPen which is an auto injector filled with epinephrine. This auto injector can stop an anaphylactic reaction temporarily but the person still needs to go to the emergency room because symptoms can return.

There is no way to know if a person will have anaphylactic reaction, people have been known to have no reactions to a substance and then to suddenly have an anaphylactic reaction. People with known allergies that have always been milder have also been known to have anaphylactic reactions, although this is rare. Doctors will ask a person about their past reaction to see if there is the possibility of an anaphylactic reaction occurring and may prescribe them an EpiPen as precaution if symptoms are severe enough. Those that have had anaphylactic reactions are at a much greater risk of having them again, so these people should always carry an EpiPen with them at all times.