Suboptimal, inconsistent treatment for anaphylaxis when the cause is unknown

Suboptimal, inconsistent treatment for anaphylaxis when the cause is unknown

A new C-CARE study is shedding light on “anaphylaxis due to an unknown trigger” (AUT), a medical condition about which surprisingly little is known.

The study, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, followed nearly 4,000 cases of anaphylaxis seen in Canadian emergency departments from 2011 to 2018.

“In our study, the cause of 7.5 percent of the anaphylaxis cases was unknown. We found that the treatment and follow up of AUT were suboptimal and inconsistent both inside and outside of the hospital,” says AllerGen researcher Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan.

“The underuse of epinephrine and the low rates of referral to an allergist, mainly in adults experiencing AUT, highlight the need for clear AUT treatment guidelines and educational programs for diagnosis and management.”

This is the first longitudinal, large-scale study to assess the clinical characteristics, treatment, and follow-up management of AUT cases across Canada. It is part the national project and database supported by AllerGen, the Cross-Canada Anaphylaxis Registry (C-CARE).

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