Anaphylaxis related to medications is most prevalent

Anaphylaxis related to medications is most prevalent in ages over thirty, venom-related
anaphylaxis is usually in those ages 20 to 39, and children younger than nine tend of having food-related
anaphylaxis (American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, 2016). Many food-related allergies
exist so behavior can paly a significant role in acquiring anaphylactic shock. An individual’s perception of
the seriousness of anaphylaxis and subsequent anaphylactic shock is a major factor. If a person doesn’t
perceive harm in an activity, they are more likely to participate. Children are less responsible and often
leave or forget their epi pen (Jones et al., 2014). Another behavior is children and teens are less likely to
question ingredients of their food sources (Jones et al., 2014).
References
American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology. (2016). Trends, characteristic, and incidence of
anaphylaxis: A population-based study. Retrieved from -
research-summaries/Current-JACI-Research/trends-anaphylaxis
Hammer, G. G. , & McPhee, S. (2014). Pathophysiology of disease: An introduction to clinical medicine .
(7th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding pathophysiology (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Consider the January 2012 report of a 6-year-old girl who went to her school nurse complaining of hives
and shortness of breath. Since the school did not have any medication under her name to use for
treatment and was not equipped to handle her condition, she was sent to an emergency room where
she was pronounced dead. This situation has raised numerous questions about the progression of
allergic reactions, how to treat students with severe allergies, how to treat students who develop allergic
reactions for the first time, and the availability of epinephrine in schools. If you were the nurse at the
girl’s school, how would you have handled the situation? How do you know when it is appropriate to
treat patients yourself and when to refer them to emergency care?
To Prepare
 Review “Anaphylactic Shock” in Chapter 24 of the Huether and McCance text, “Distributive
Shock” in Chapter 10 of the McPhee and Hammer text, and the Jacobsen and Gratton article in the
Learning Resources.
 Identify the multisystem physiologic progression that occurs in anaphylactic shock. Think about
how these multisystem events can occur in a very short period of time.
 Consider when you should refer patients to emergency care versus treating as an outpatient.

 Select two patient factors different from the one you selected in this week’s first Discussion:
genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, or behavior. Reflect on how the factors you selected might impact the
process of anaphylactic shock.
By Day 4
Post an explanation of the physiological progression that occurs in anaphylactic shock. Then, describe
the circumstances under which you would refer patients for emergency care versus treating as an
outpatient. Finally, explain how the patient factors you selected might impact the process of
anaphylactic shock.