A 35-year-old comes to the clinic. He states, “It’s getting close to allergy season and I need something to keep me from getting sick. Last year the doc gave me a shot, a spray, some pills, and an inhaler. They worked really well but I don’t remember what they were. Can I have those things again? I just can’t afford to miss work.” Please answer the following questions in a narrative format: 1–Discuss the epidemiology of allergies.

Allergies

Epidemiology of Allergies

Epidemiology can be defined as the branch of medicine that studies diseases by identifying their distribution, risk factors, and possible control measures. According to a study done by Öçal, Muluk, and Mullol (2020), allergies affect more than 45% of school-aged people in the US. One of the most popular allergic diseases is allergic rhinitis.

This disease affected more than 30% of the population across the globe as of 2018 (Öçal et al., 2020). The authors report that the allergy is caused by Immunoglobin E antibodies (IgE). When the body releases IgE at a higher rate, the antibodies with target the immune system and causes a reaction that produces chemicals that lead to an allergic reaction.

The second most popular allergic condition is drug allergy. The research by Namysłowski et al. (2018) shows that one out of 10 people in the US is likely to suffer drug allergy.

The rate of drug allergy is high in hospitalized patients. This disease accounts for about 1 in every 5 anaphylactic deaths. The risk factors of this allergy include the current health conditions of the population, the type of medication, and genetic factors. People with Acetylator status and HLA type genetic factors risk contracting drug allergy.

The duration of drug administration and dose are also risk factors of the allergy. The last type of allergy is a food allergy. This disease has affected more than 40,000 children and 8% of adults in the US. The most common food allergy is caused by peanut, followed by milk (Chong & Chew, 2018). Other foods, such as eggs, tree nuts, soy, eggs, shellfish, fish, and grains with gluten, also cause food allergy.

Treatment Options of Allergies

This patient can be prescribed antihistamines to help fight the chemicals released during an allergic reaction. Tan, Sugita, and Akdis (2016) antihistamines can be used to relieve pain caused by different forms of allergies. The patient should be prescribed second-generation antihistamines. The second-generation antihistamines are appropriate in this situation because they are less central and can be used as antiallergic medications.

However, H1antihistamines have central effects on the human body and can be used as sedatives to reduce pain. Over-the-counter antihistamine that should be considered in this situation is Zyrtec. This medication works faster and is also affordable compared to others. Allegra (fexofenadine), desloratadine (Clarinex), loratadine (Alavert) or Claritin can be used as alternative medications.

Education Provided to the Patient

First, the patient should be educated on how to avoid an allergic reaction. He can do this by trying to try as much as possible to avoid the allergic stimulus that can be avoidable. For instance, if the patient is allergic to dust, he or she should try hard to avoid dust. The second educational competency should focus on educating the patient about the names of the over-the-counter medications he can buy in case he is far from the medical facility (Farrokhi et al., 2017).

The patient has visited the facility because he does not remember the medications; he was previously prescribed. Lastly, the patient can be educated about the medication schedule. The competency of this education program is to ensure that the patient maintains the medication schedule.

References

Chong, S. N., & Chew, F. T. (2018). Epidemiology of allergic rhinitis and associated risk factors in Asia. World Allergy Organization Journal, 11(1), 17. https://waojournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40413-018-0198-z?optIn=false

Farrokhi, S., Abbasirad, N., Movahed, A., Khazaei, H. A., Pishjoo, M., & Rezaei, N. (2017). TLR9-based immunotherapy for the treatment of allergic diseases. Immunotherapy, 9(4), 339-346. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/imt-2016-0104