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Delta Air Lines is backing one of its flight attendants, who is accused of discrimination for failing to make allergy accommodations for a traveler on a flight from New York City to San Diego. When a California family asked that no almonds be served on the Oct. 2022 flight due to a teenager’s allergy, the flight attendant denied the request, according to a complaint filed to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Deborah Gianulis and her mother, Deena Gianulis, filed the complaint in Oct. 2023 on behalf of Deborah Gianulis’ teenage son, identified only as K.C. As the complaint states,...

The first patients were recruited at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London to begin clinical trials. The first clinical trial of a new vaccine candidate to treat cat allergies has been given the all-clear, according to a French-Canadian pharmaceutical company. This is the first human test to evaluate the safety and ability of the new vaccine to provoke an immune response in adults who are allergic to cat dander, the company Angany said. There is no current cure for cat allergies, which is a life-long condition but there are over-the-counter medicines that can help to relieve symptoms.

A CRISPR-alternative has been used to create eggs that are unlikely to trigger allergic reactions. That’s a potentially big deal for millions of children who are allergic to eggs — not just for their diets but also for their immune systems. The challenge: Allergic reactions are caused by the immune system mistaking something usually benign, like peanuts or pollen, for a harmful invader. Depending on the severity of the allergy, this can lead to anything from a mild rash to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Eggs are a pretty common allergy, with up to 2% of children experiencing a reaction to them. Most...

The prevalence of food allergies is increasing worldwide, approaching an epidemic level in some regions. In the U.S. alone, approximately 10% of children and adults suffer from food allergies, with allergies to cow's milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts being the most common. Some patients have mild symptoms that might not need medical attention, leaving these cases unreported. Food allergies, or food hypersensitivities, result from the overreaction of the immune system to typically harmless proteins in food. They can manifest as a spectrum of symptoms, ranging from itching, redness and swelling for milder reactions, to vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing and...

Spain’s Health Ministry on Tuesday recommended that people who haven’t been vaccinated against Covid-19 or didn't complete their vaccination due to potential allergic reactions or other side effects from the vaccines available until now, instead have the newly approved Novavax inoculation. Spain’s Public Health Commission has agreed to allocate the new Novavax vaccine to “people who had not yet been able to get vaccinated or who have received an incomplete vaccination due to allergies to any of the components of the other available vaccines, or due to medical advice”. Novavax will therefore be aimed at over-18s with severe immunosuppression whose...

Most people with allergic reactions to the first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine from either Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna can safely receive the second dose, a new study shows. The rates of allergic reactions to these vaccines have been reported to be as high as 2%, with anaphylaxis, the most serious kind, occurring in up to 2.5 of every 10,000 vaccine recipients, the researchers said. They reviewed data on 189 adults with first-dose reactions to one of these vaccines, such as flushing, dizziness or lightheadedness, tingling, throat tightness, hives, and wheezing or shortness of breath. Most of these adults -...

A human plasma cell. =============================================================== For the millions of us plagued by hypersensitive, overactive, or downright abusive immune systems, it can feel like you're constantly fighting your own physical self. From incessant allergies to life-threatening anaphylaxis and debilitating autoimmune disease, the system that's supposed to be protecting us can be problematic when it goes wrong. Now, we might be closer to fixing these issues in an entirely new way. Using transgenic mice and cultures of cells taken from human tonsils, researchers have now found evidence of how our bodies might defend against the mistakes that result in conditions such as...

ive Alaska health care workers experienced adverse reactions after getting the COVID-19 vaccine this week — including two cases that were considered serious — but health officials continue to emphasize that such reactions are both rare and treatable while the vast majority of vaccine recipients were fine. A Fairbanks health care worker was treated for a “probable” serious allergic reaction on Thursday after she received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Foundation Health Partners care system. Additionally, on Friday evening, Providence Alaska reported that two caregivers who received the COVID-19 vaccine experienced non-life-threatening, mild reactions. Those incidents follow reactions experienced...

Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion, body aches, chills—obviously, you know you’re under the weather when symptoms like these appear, but how can you tell which storm it is? Certain signs could point to the common cold or flu, while others may be more serious and present as early signs of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Even more confusing as we head into spring? Some might simply be an indication of seasonal allergies. Here, a doctor explains how to figure out what your body may be dealing with. Allergies: runny nose + itchy eyes Welcome to spring,...

Holcomb was on his way back in April to Austin from Las Vegas after celebrating his birthday, but had a connecting flight in Phoenix. He says he had an allergic reaction to a support dog belonging to another passenger. American Airlines, in a statement, says it makes accommodations for dogs “American makes every effort to accommodate all passengers, including those traveling with and seated near service or support animals,” a statement read. Holcomb says the passenger offered to switch seats but after no one volunteered, a flight attendant and a pilot got involved. Holcomb says he questioned why he had...

19 percent of the nationally representative group reported having a food allergy. But only 10.8 percent said they had symptoms consistent with an allergic reaction to food, such as hives, swelling of the lips or throat, and chest pain. The main culprits behind these allergies were shellfish, milk, and tree nuts. Those who didn’t have a convincing food allergy instead reported symptoms like stomach cramps, a stuffy nose, or nausea. The findings, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, roughly match up to estimates from other studies, including those that confirmed a person’s food allergy with testing or medical records. In...

"An 11-year-old New Jersey boy died on New Year’s Day after suffering a severe allergic reaction to the smell of fish being cooked at his grandmother’s home in Brooklyn, New York, according to reports."

A study from the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at New York's Mount Sinai hospital found that from 1997 to 2008, peanut allergies tripled from 1-in-250 children to 1-in-70. Among children, allergies to peanuts and other types of food continues to climb, but experts say there is some progress in controlling or preventing life-threatening reactions. A food allergy, defined as a reaction that occurs when the immune system attacks harmless proteins, is an ailment that drugmakers are working to treat. One method involves treatments that introduce small amounts of peanuts to allergy sufferers, which gradually increases the amount to build toleranc...

A woman headed to Los Angeles International Airport was dragged off a Southwest plane Tuesday night by two police officers after claiming she was deathly allergic to two dogs on board the flight. ... The kerfuffle was preceded by the woman telling the flight crew that she had a life-threatening allergy to two dogs on the flight, one of which was a service animal, and her demand that they be removed from the flight. When she could not provide a medical certificate stating she could travel safely, she was asked to leave. ... As the officers removed the unidentified woman,...

Study shows 78 percent of pharmacists knew penicillin allergy can resolve itself over time compared to 55 percent of physicians. Although most pharmacists know penicillin allergies can resolve over time, a new study found that many doctors are not aware of that. The study, by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, analyzed 276 surveys completed by non-allergist physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and pharmacists at Rochester Regional Health in Rochester, N.Y., and found more than 80 percent of the general practitioners surveyed knew a referral to an allergist for testing is recommended for a person with a reported...

A 7-month-old baby died after his parents fed him only gluten-free and lactose-free foods, including quinoa milk, the New York Post reported. The child’s Belgian parents self-diagnosed him with an array of food allergies, but never sought a medical professional’s opinion before deciding on his diet, according to the newspaper. “The parents determined their own diagnosis that their child was gluten intolerant and had a lactose allergy,” lawyers said in court during the trial for the child’s 2014 death, the Independent reported. “Not a single doctor had a dossier about Lucas and child protection services did not know about them.”...

Upon arrival, immigrant populations in Canada tend to present less allergies than their Canadian-born counterparts, but prevalence increases with time, a national study finds. However, exposing them to ethnic foods and cultural practices that they were accustomed to may help reduce allergies in this population, according to the researchers. “There is no definitive answer as to the cause(s) of the definitely noted increase in allergies in immigrant populations when they move to Western countries such as Canada. However, the pattern is real and needs to be analyzed”, says Dr. David Fischer, President of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical...

Hillary Clinton began a Labor Day rally in Cleveland with a bad cough — which she blamed on her opponent, Donald Trump. “Every time I think about Trump, I get allergic,” Clinton said after some sustained hacking. “Boy, we have 63 days to go,” Clinton croaked, before coughing some more.

Mylan to Launch a Lower Cost Generic EpiPenUpdated Sept. 1: Mylan announced on Aug. 29 that it will launch a generic version of its EpiPen at half the cost of the patented original. It plans to introduce a generic two-pack of auto-injectors for $300, compared to the list price of $609 on the branded auto-injector set. Facing relentless pressure from politicians, the media and social media over steep increases on EpiPens, this was the second move Mylan has made on auto-injector pricing in less than a week. Given that the EpiPen brand still has patent protection, the generic announcement...

This intervention is not aimed at those with life-threatening food allergies or similarly grave medical conditions. I would never question people whose faces will balloon if they ingest trace amounts of shellfish. Or people who risk going into anaphylactic shock with a whiff of peanut dust. Those problems are very real, and everyone who is afflicted with them has my sympathy. I’m talking about the rest of you. Those of you who don’t eat garlic because you detest its smell or avoid cauliflower because it makes you fart or have gone gluten-free because you heard it worked wonders for Jennifer...