More allergic reactions seen in West Midlands A&E

??Hospitals in the West Midlands are seeing a rise in the number of children and adults diagnosed with life-threatening allergies.

Hundreds of new patients are being treated for anaphylactic shock every year and prescribed special injection pens to reverse the deadly effects of allergic reactions.

A wide range of commonplace can bring on an attack that can kill in minutes, such as peanuts, eggs and shellfish.

In Wolverhampton, there has been a 29 per cent rise in the number of EpiPen prescriptions dispensed.

The special injection pens treat allergic reactions and contain life-saving adrenalin that can reverse a severe allergic reaction in seconds.

Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust handed out 562 EpiPen prescriptions to sufferers in 2009/2010, compared to 434 in 2007/2008.

In South Staffordshire, the PCT handed out a total of 2,253 prescriptions for the adrenaline devices, up from 1,832.

Dudley PCT handed out 2,035 EpiPens compared to 1,607 two years previously.

NHS Worcestershire wrote out 2,632 EpiPen prescriptions - up from 2,106.

Latest figures show Sandwell PCT gave out 781 EpiPen prescriptions, up from 603 two years earlier.

NHS Walsall dispensed 554 EpiPen prescriptions, an increase of 439.

There were 406 hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis was anaphylactic shock in 2008/2009, up from 268 in 2004/2005, according to the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority, which represents a 51 per cent increase.

A total of five people died of anaphylactic shock in the West Midlands in 2009, compared with just two in 2008.

Nationally the number of EpiPens prescribed by doctors was 156,000 five years ago. By last year the figure had risen to 212,000 — a rise of 36 per cent.

In the past 12 years, 125 people in Britain have died as a result of anaphylaxis caused by a severe allergic reaction.

According to the British Allergy Foundation, one in three people in the UK suffer from an allergy at some time in their lives and the numbers are increasing every year.

Some experts believe it is associated with pollution. Another theory is that allergies are caused by living in a cleaner, germ-free environment, which reduces the number of germs our immune system has to deal with.

This causes it to overreact when it meets harmless substances.Two to three per cent of children have a nut allergy.

Many also have asthma or hay fever.

David Birch, senior pharmaceutical advisor for Wolverhampton PCT, said: "Most pens used in the UK are US-made EpiPens which tend to arrive in one large batch with the same expiry date.

"The increase in the number of pens issued in 2009/10 may be explained by the fact that many expired between December 2009 and January 2010, and patients would have been issued with a prescription for a replacement pen."