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Published on: November 1, 2014
Anaphylaxis as a manifestation of horse allergy
Radoslaw Gawlik1, Tomas Pitsch, Lawrence Dubuske
1From the 1Department and Clinic of Internal and Allergic Diseases and Clinical Immunology, Silesian University School of Medicine, Zabrze, Poland; and the 2Immunology Research Institute of New England, Harvard, MA.
Abstract:
Allergic disease induced by animal exposure is a common phenomenon worldwide. Whereas cat and dog dander exposure are well recognized as causative of allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, and contact urticaria, horse allergy can present with anaphylaxis. Horse allergy is induced by exposure to the major horse allergens Equ 1 through 5. The severity of the symptoms may be related to the level of exposure. Greatest risk of anaphylaxis occurs in those sensitized patients who have large amounts of animal allergen exposure, such as when in a barn, or when an animal bite occurs exposing sensitized persons to large quantities of the animal allergen that resides in the saliva. Horse allergy may be successfully treated with allergen specific immunotherapy.
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