BMJ  2005;331:330 (6 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7512.330

Primary care

10-minute consultation

Anaphylaxis

Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research and development1, Samantha Walker, director of research2

1 Division of Community Health Sciences, GP Section, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9DX, 2 National Respiratory Training Centre, Warwick

Correspondence to: A Sheikh aziz.sheikh@ed.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

A 60 year old man attends to discuss his recent allergic reaction to an insect sting. He presents you with the casualty letter which reads: "Treated for anaphylaxis after bee sting—see GP for follow-up."

What issues you should cover

What happened, and was this anaphylaxis? The term anaphylaxis refers to an acute, potentially life threatening, systemic allergic disorder that involves the cardiovascular or respiratory system, or both.

How quickly did the reaction develop? Symptoms of anaphylaxis typically begin within minutes of exposure. The quicker the onset of symptoms, the more severe the clinical reaction is likely to be. Early features include flushing, urticaria, and intense anxiety (often described as "a feeling of impending doom").

What treatment did he receive? Ask whether he received adrenaline and the effect it had.

Was wasp or bee venom the trigger? Differentiating between anaphylaxis induced by wasp venom or bee venom is important for giving advice on how best to . . . [Full text of this article]

What you should do


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Hit parade
BMJ 2005 331: 784. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Kounis Syndrome and Anaphylaxis from Hymenoptera Stings
Nicholas G. Kounis, et al.
bmj.com, 9 Aug 2005 [Full text]
Adrenaline dose in Anaphylaxis in patients on beta blocking drugs
Myles R Milhench
bmj.com, 11 Aug 2005 [Full text]
Risk of anaphylaxis to hymenoptera stings after an initial event
Michal R. Pijak, et al.
bmj.com, 23 Aug 2005 [Full text]
Please don't use the "C-word"
Diane-Marie Campbell
bmj.com, 26 Aug 2005 [Full text]
Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ