A 20-year-old girl within the UK with a extreme tree nut allergy had unprotected vaginal intercourse along with her routine associate. Shortly afterward, her vulva and vagina started itching and swelling, urticaria (hives) unfold throughout her physique, and she or he started to really feel faint and in need of breath, indicators of an anaphylactic reation.
Anaphylaxis is a extreme, life-threatening response to a meals, drug, insect venom or substance, like latex.
She visited the hospital, the place she was handled with cetirizine, an oral antihistamine usually used to deal with hives, though it was unclear what had triggered her response. After 45 minutes, her signs eased. Though she felt drained the subsequent day, her different signs had resolved.
Her associate had eaten Brazil nuts about two or three hours earlier than intercourse, however he had been cautious to brush his enamel and clear his fingernails prior.
Pores and skin prick exams have been performed utilizing numerous semen samples from her associate, one pattern taken when her associate had not eaten Brazil nuts prior, and one the place he had consumed the nuts 2.5 hours earlier than.
Within the latter check, the lady developed a welt 0.28 inches lengthy, indicative that she was delicate to the pattern taken after nuts have been consumed by the person.
The medical doctors instructed her to maintain antihistamines readily available in addition to an epinephrine auto-injector. They recommended she abstain from sexual intimacy along with her associate after he had eaten Brazil nuts.
There are different documented instances of people struggling allergic reactions after intimacy, however they’ve usually concerned the switch of allergens from the mouth or contact.
“To our data that is the primary case of a extreme meals allergic response transferred by regular vaginal intercourse,” medical doctors on the hospital wrote in a report.
Whereas this report reveals one more surprising avenue for the transmission of allergens, we’re not sure why the lady was handled on the hospital with cetirizine, which medical doctors now advise towards.
Epinephrine is the one recognized drug that may halt and reverse the signs of anaphylaxis. As Harvard Medical Faculty states:
There is no such thing as a substitute for epinephrine, which is the one first-line remedy for anaphylaxis. Neither antihistamines nor glucocorticoids work as rapidly as epinephrine, and neither can successfully deal with the extreme signs related to anaphylaxis.
Nonetheless, antihistamines reminiscent of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or cetirizine (Zyrtec), glucocorticoids like prednisone, or a mix, could also be used along with epinephrine in some instances of anaphylaxis, after epinephrine is run.
