• Question: can you die from a allergic reaction??

    Asked by emily_mxy to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara on 19 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 19 Nov 2015:

      Hi Emily,

      Yes you can- some allergies are more dangerous than others. If it’s a serious reaction, then the person can go into anaphylactic shock. This is when your immune system goes into crazy over-drive responding to something harmless, the best-known example of this is peanut allergies.

    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 20 Nov 2015:

      Yes! As Carolyn said some reactions can be very severe, peanuts being the most obvious one. It’s rare though – in the UK about 10 people die from a food allergy every year, but you can add onto that other allergies like asthma, allergies to wasp/bee stings, all of which can be fatal.

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