Sun, insects and food: allergies are (also) for the summer

There are allergies at all times, affecting all ages and occurring anywhere.

The number of possible triggers of an allergic reaction is enormous, as is the amount of the population that suffers from these diseases.

According to data from the World Allergy Organization (WAO), between 30% and 40% of the world's population suffers from some type of allergy.

And the percentage goes up when the age goes down;

for example, it is estimated that among children it is between 40% and 50%.

It is called an allergic reaction to the disease that occurs when the body recognizes an innocuous substance as an aggressor and acts against it.

Pollen, some medications, food, sunlight or animal hair are the most common, but the number of substances that can cause a reaction of this type is very large.

And while it is true that the vast majority of allergic reactions can occur at any time, it is also true that summer is the peak time for some of them: allergies to the sun, insect bites and food.

sun allergy

The term “sun allergy”, which is colloquial, refers to “any exaggerated response of the skin to normal exposure to the sun”, explains Dolores del Pozo, a medical specialist in allergology at the San Pedro de Logroño Hospital.

These responses include very different processes that we call photosensitivity diseases.

"A small group of them triggered by a hypersensitivity mechanism are true allergies to the sun," she adds.

When

on the beach we are not suffering from an allergy to the sun.

For it to be an allergy, there must be a response from the body, what allergists call hypersensitivity, and which is that exaggerated response of the body to harmless substances.

As Dolores del Pozo assures, author of the chapter dedicated to sun allergy in

, co-published by the Spanish Society of Allergology and the BBVA Foundation: “Within what we call sun allergies there are some that are extremely rare and others that are quite frequent and can affect up to 20% of the population, such as polymorphic solar eruption , which is one of the most frequent reasons for consultation due to sun exposure.

It is a rash that occurs more frequently in women.

It usually occurs when you start sunbathing in spring or summer and although it can have different characteristics, it usually affects the neck area, the extremities or even the face.

Normally, it produces itching and is usually benign.

It is controlled with antihistamines and avoiding exposure and normally it ends when a tan is acquired, it is what we call hardening”.

But in addition to that type of allergy, sunlight can cause other reactions, for example, those in which it acts as a trigger.

Some drugs and substances present, for example, in cosmetic products can cause an allergic reaction that only occurs when exposed to sunlight.

"One of the most common photoallergens is topical anti-inflammatory creams, but sunlight is required to trigger the photoallergic reaction to the active ingredient in the cream," explains Del Pozo.

The recommendation when you suffer a reaction to normal exposure to the sun is, according to Dolores del Pozo, "consult the primary care doctor to assess whether to divert us to the allergy specialist."

Allergy to insect bites

Wasps and bees sting more in summer so, obviously, more allergic reactions to their stings also occur at this time.

Alfonso Miranda, an expert doctor in allergies and former coordinator of the Hymenoptera Venom Allergy Committee of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, explains: “The females of these insects inoculate poison with their sting.

That poison is toxic for everyone, but there are also some people who are allergic, so they suffer a greater reaction.

This reaction, like all allergies, varies greatly from one person to another.

“It can range from a local reaction, which swells the area where the sting has been received: an arm, a hand or a leg to a systemic reaction, that is to say that he begins to have generalized hives, that his face swells or the mouth, or even more serious and that it reaches anaphylactic shock, ”says Miranda.

Anaphylactic shock is, according to

a generalized allergic reaction with cardiovascular involvement and drop in blood pressure that can be very serious and, in some cases, fatal.

According to Alfonso Miranda, deaths from this cause occur every year: "In Spain there are no data, but we assume that we can compare ourselves statistically with France, and there are about twenty fatal reactions annually."

But allergy to bee and wasp stings can be cured.

“There is a vaccine made with the venom of the wasp or bee.

To the patients to whom we apply it, after four or five years in treatment, before removing the vaccine we do the cotton test, we prick it with a live insect and no one has ever had a reaction, ”adds the expert.

On what to do when you are stung by a wasp or a bee, if you don't know if you are allergic or not, Alfonso Miranda offers some advice: “You have to know that the sting always hurts.

It is good to apply ice on it or if you are in a river, put on some cold mud to reduce inflammation.

But in principle, the first time a person is stung by an insect they do not have a serious reaction because they have to become sensitized and allergic.

A second or a third sting can have more problems.

food allergy

Summer does not increase the danger of foods that cause allergies, but what happens in the summer season, according to Ana Fiandor, head of the Allergology Service at the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, is that "we leave home more, we eat more outside And this is a more dangerous situation for people with food allergies, because eating outside of a protected environment is more risky.”

Food allergy is a pathology that can begin at any age, but especially appears in young patients.

“Children begin to present these allergies following the food introduction calendar”, explains Fianor.

And he adds: “The first one that is presented is milk, then eggs and the third group is usually fish.

Nuts tend to be later”.

Allergies to all foods can be mild or very severe, “it does not depend on the food but on the person who has the allergy.

The greatest risk is inadvertent consumption.

But any food can give serious pictures.

The most frequent symptom is itching and the appearance of welts on the skin.

And the seriousness comes when respiratory symptoms are associated or the circulatory system is affected”, clarifies Fiandor.

Allergic reactions to food are very fast.

If a person is eating, feels itchy in the mouth and begins to feel bad, they have to stop eating immediately, call 112 and explain what is happening to them, says the expert.

Those who already know that they are allergic to a food are usually very careful and come prepared.

But in all cases, Ana Fiandor recommends being aware of a lesser-known fact: “Certain proteins can do more damage in an allergic reaction if some associated factors occur: alcohol consumption, strenuous physical exercise, lack of sleep, menstruation or the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

All of these factors increase the severity of allergic reactions.

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