Allergic Reactions

Buzz. Buzz. Zing.In the back yard under the crab apple tree, only one thing can abruptly ruin a lazy summer day: the sting of a bee, hornet or wasp. The same insects that float from stem to stem, coloring summers with flowers as they search for pollen, are also killers.Millions of people could avoid life-threatening allergic reactions if they'd speak up -- to a doctor. You know who you are -- you've already had one severe reaction to an insect sting. In all likelihood, people who have had one bad experience are candidates for a purse or pocket-size prescription of the drug epinephrine.

Glen Burnie's North Arundel Hospital has banned a potentially deadly health hazard that can cause eyes to itch and swell, and bring on coughing, rashes, asthma and cardiac arrest.Rubber balloons.Last week, hospital administrators instructed security to stop anyone walking into the lobby with them in hand. Simply being near rubber balloons can trigger allergic reactions in people sensitive to latex rubber products, explained Tammie Neall, an infection control practitioner at the hospital who is allergic to latex and who pushed for the ban."

NATIONAL Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month got the kind of publicity this May that was a mixed blessing, highlighting the life-threatening nature of these extreme sensitivities and the need for more affected persons to get medical help.A million EpiPen emergency injection pens used by people who suffer serious allergic reactions were recalled by the Columbia manufacturer. The dose was not strong enough to stop acute swelling and shock reactions to certain foods (such as fish and peanuts)

The table looks like any other inside Ilchester Elementary School's cafeteria: a dozen first-graders chattering and feasting on shiny red apples, yogurt, cheese-flavored crackers and pizza slices.But one childhood staple is missing from this corner of the lunchroom: peanuts."I don't like to bring peanut butter. It makes me feel like I'm sick," says Julia Millard, a 6 1/2 -year-old first-grader at Ilchester's "Peanut Butter Free" table, meant for children who are allergic to peanuts and peanut products.

The company that recalled a million units of its emergency allergy-fighting injections last week has failed to deliver on its promise to provide quick replacements, leaving millions of Americans without medication they might need to stop life-threatening allergic reactions to food and insect bites.The self-injecting devices with the drug epinephrine were recalled last week because the maker, Meridian Medical Technologies of Columbia, discovered that certain lots were not potent enough to stop reactions that can lead to swelling, suffocation, blood pressure loss and shock.

Working like "a bulldog" for seven years, a Johns Hopkins scientist has discovered one reason why some people with allergies sneeze, wheeze and cough hours after what they're allergic to has disappeared, and others do not.Roughly half of the 40 million Americans with allergies experience this delayed reaction, called late phase, six to 24 hours after exposure. They often land in emergency rooms and doctors' offices, with no effective treatment except steroids that can cause side effects.In a significant step, Dr. Susan M. MacDonald and a team of Johns Hopkins medical researchers have identified and decoded molecule that appears to determine the severity of the allergic response and how long it will last.

Brigitte Saidi is allergic to some of the most popular perfumes on the market. So the management consultant who also owns two office complexes recently became part of a national trend when she urged her tenants to go scent-free."

If you suffer from respiratory allergies, you're in good company; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases estimates that more than 15 percent of Americans have respiratory allergies, affecting the sinuses, nose, throat and lungs. Armed with new understanding of the causes of allergic symptoms, doctors are devising new medications that do more than treat symptoms -- they prevent them from occurring in the first place.Dr. Lawrence Lichenstein, director of the Asthma and Allergy Center at the Johns Hopkins Health Institutions, and Dr. Peyton Eggleston, also of Hopkins, shared their expert knowledge in helping me compile some answers for allergy sufferers.

Nancy Lefenfeld was picking up her two children at Thunder Hill Elementary School last spring when she saw students running across schoolgrounds that had been posted with yellow "Caution! Pesticide Application" signs.As a result, the PTA Council of Howard County will ask the school board tomorrow to investigate alternatives to herbicidesnow used to kill grass and weeds on school grounds areas that mowerscannot reach. The board is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. at the Department of Education, 10910 Route 108.And the PTA at Thunder Hill Elementary School, responding to Lefenfeld's concerns, is asking school officials not to spray school grounds for the rest of this year and the 1992-1993 school year.

James Bruggy points in dismay at a seating chart of th ground floor of the Meadows East Building. Each of the 30 names written on the diagram represents a co-worker who has had a serious medical problem -- fungus balls and growths inside their heads, respiratory and eye infections, skin rashes and swelling, cancer.The name of Maura McHale Allison, who worked there less than three years, is the most recent addition. She transferred to another building on the advice of her physician three weeks ago after developing severe headaches and allergic reactions.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital and a handful of other medical centers around the country are set this week to begin collectively monitoring and tracking dangerous reactions to blood transfusions, the first piece of a nationwide "biovigilance" program that is arriving in the United States years later than in most other developed nations. The ultimate goal of the project, a collaboration between federal agencies and private medical associations, is to reduce the number of infections, allergic reactions, clerical errors and other complications related to blood transfusions.

WASHINGTON -- Expanding the scope of its Heparin recall, the government is sending letters to 82 medical device makers today warning them to withdraw any stents, catheters and other products that might contain the contaminated blood thinner. The move came as the Food and Drug Administration tripled the number of deaths that it said could be linked to the tainted drug. After reviewing more than 1,200 reports of allergic reactions from users, the agency said that 62 deaths since January 2007 may now be related to contaminated Heparin, up from the 19 deaths it previously counted during that period.

It's yellowjacket season. With their numbers rising and normal foods in short supply, the brassy bugs are crashing our picnics. They compete for our soda, beer, meat and ice cream, and they can deliver painful stings to the unwary. Sometimes they trigger severe allergic reactions. Scientists who study those reactions - by prodding the insects to sting volunteers - say they have encountered a lot of folklore about yellowjacket stings. And much of it turns out to be flat wrong. For example, many people insist that a yellowjacket's venom gets stronger as summer turns to fall.

I've been reading about athletes taking steroids. It confuses me that people think this is terrible. My doctor prescribes Flonase for my allergies. This is an inhaled steroid. What's the difference? Some athletes have been abusing anabolic steroids. These are male hormones related to testosterone. Corticosteroids, like Flonase or prednisone, are related to cortisone, a natural anti-inflammatory compound. They are used to treat conditions such as asthma, allergy or arthritis. The benefits and risks of corticosteroids are completely different from those of anabolic steroids.

By summer, allergy sufferers may see a generation of medicines introduced that attack allergic reactions at their source. The Food and Drug Administration is considering approval of omalizumab, which would be sold under the trade name Xolair, for treatment of moderate to severe cases of allergic asthma. Xolair is designed to block actions of immunoglobin E, or IgE, the underlying trigger of a variety of allergic diseases. Unlike sprays and pills that treat symptoms of allergic reactions, Xolair can stop the allergic reaction itself.

High concentrations of mold were found in three courtrooms and in office areas of the state's attorney and court clerk in Howard County's circuit courthouse, county officials said yesterday. Environmental testing on the old, cramped building revealed four different fungi, none of which is dangerous but all of which might cause allergic reactions in employees who may be sensitive to the substances, according to an update circulated yesterday to building employees. Mold ranging from common fungi to mildew to "bread mold" was found in five samples taken from the three courtrooms, from two samples taken from peeling paint on a stairway wall in the state's attorney's office and from two areas in Clerk of the Circuit Court Margaret D. Rappaport's space, according to the update.

For most of us, puttering in the garden is therapeutic. But for allergy sufferers, it can be agony. Airborne pollens and spores can produce allergic reactions ranging from mildly irritating to life-threatening. Despite the hazards, many of the allergy-prone love to garden. Antihistamines get some people through. Others just suffer. Some retreat inside for the duration. But for those seeking an alternative to pharmaceuticals, stoicism or confinement, there is low- allergen gardening. Lucy Huntington, author of "Creating a Low-Allergen Garden" (Laurel Glen Publishing, 1998, $19.95)

Buzz. Buzz. Zing.In the back yard under the crab apple tree, only one thing can abruptly ruin a lazy summer day: the sting of a bee, hornet or wasp. The same insects that float from stem to stem, coloring summers with flowers as they search for pollen, are also killers.Millions of people could avoid life-threatening allergic reactions if they'd speak up -- to a doctor. You know who you are -- you've already had one severe reaction to an insect sting. In all likelihood, people who have had one bad experience are candidates for a purse or pocket-size prescription of the drug epinephrine.

The table looks like any other inside Ilchester Elementary School's cafeteria: a dozen first-graders chattering and feasting on shiny red apples, yogurt, cheese-flavored crackers and pizza slices.But one childhood staple is missing from this corner of the lunchroom: peanuts."I don't like to bring peanut butter. It makes me feel like I'm sick," says Julia Millard, a 6 1/2 -year-old first-grader at Ilchester's "Peanut Butter Free" table, meant for children who are allergic to peanuts and peanut products.

NATIONAL Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month got the kind of publicity this May that was a mixed blessing, highlighting the life-threatening nature of these extreme sensitivities and the need for more affected persons to get medical help.A million EpiPen emergency injection pens used by people who suffer serious allergic reactions were recalled by the Columbia manufacturer. The dose was not strong enough to stop acute swelling and shock reactions to certain foods (such as fish and peanuts)