Health
Recommendations made for anaphylaxis follow-up
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 23, 2007
Emergency physicians who treat patients with anaphylactic reactions need to identify the allergic trigger, provide links to follow-up care and prescribe epinephrine for possible future incidents, say guidelines by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American College of Emergency Physicians published in the June Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
"Even when an initial allergic reaction is mild, there is a possibility that a subsequent reaction will be life threatening," said Philip Lieberman, MD, lead author and professor in the division of allergy and immunology at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis.
The hope is to improve the long-term management of allergies that can lead to anaphylaxis by strengthening the link among the medical specialties most likely to be involved with this type of incident. The paper is the latest move by medical societies working to improve the health of the growing number of people at risk for these life-threatening reactions.
The American Medical Association adopted policy at its June meeting calling for changes in the management of children at risk for this in the school setting.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/07/23/hlbf0723.htm.
