Hongkongers in dark over potentially deadly allergic reaction despite hospital admissions more than doubling in decade
- Most patients are not given ‘life-saving injector’ despite rise in anaphylaxis hospital admissions, researchers find
- Anaphylaxis can be triggered by a food or drug allergy or an insect bite and in some cases can be deadly
The number of public hospital admissions for a potentially fatal allergic reaction has more than doubled over the past decade but Hong Kong is still lagging when it comes to resources and training on the condition, medical experts have warned.
According to research by the University of Hong Kong, the number of anaphylaxis cases rose from about 150 in 2009 to more than 350 in 2019 but less than a third of these patients were prescribed with an adrenaline auto-injector, popularly known as a “life-saving injector”.
Anaphylaxis can be triggered by a food or drug allergy or insect bite and patients may suffer dizziness because of a sharp drop in blood pressure. In some cases, those affected lose consciousness and have difficulty breathing and could die without proper treatment.
As a safeguard, some patients carry adrenaline with them in daily life in case anaphylaxis hits them.
Dr Philip Li Hei, a clinical assistant professor at HKU’s department of medicine, on Saturday said many people were not aware of the condition while some doctors, who were able to make a diagnosis, might not know which patients needed to be prescribed the adrenaline auto-injector.
“On allergy, the resources and training in Hong Kong are less than in other countries such as Western countries,” said Li, an immunology and allergy specialist. “Many countries have guidelines on when a patient should be carrying a life-saving injector with them. But until now, Hong Kong still doesn’t have such a thing. So this is quite a big barrier.”