Journal of Asthma and Allergy (Mar 2021)

An Unusual Case of Multiple Food Allergies Comorbid with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Case Report

  • Storino V,
  • Muñoz-Ortiz J,
  • Villabona-Martinez V,
  • Villamizar-Sanjuán JD,
  • Rojas-Carabali W,
  • de-la-Torre A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 317 – 323

Abstract

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Veronica Storino,1 Juliana Muñoz-Ortiz,2 Valeria Villabona-Martinez,3 Juan Diego Villamizar-Sanjuán,3 William Rojas-Carabali,3 Alejandra de-la-Torre3 1Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; 2Escuela Barraquer, Research Group, Escuela Superior de Oftalmología, Instituto Barraquer de América, Bogotá, Colombia; 3Neuroscience Research Group “NeURos”, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, ColombiaCorrespondence: Alejandra de-la-TorreNeuroscience Research Group “NeURos”, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario, Carrera 24 # 63C - 69, Bogotá, ColombiaTel +57 3102482196Email [email protected]: To report the case of a patient with multiple food allergies comorbid with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) who was misdiagnosed on various occasions, resulting in a negative impact on the patient’s personal and social life.Case Report: We present the case of a 43-year-old Colombian women with multiple food allergies concomitant with MCS. Symptoms started with a mild reaction to insecticides, car exhaust smoke, and perfumes and gradually evolved into a severe reaction to her environment. She also presented recurrent episodes of clinical reactivity to foods and persistent elevated IgE levels, as well as several life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. Alternative and allopathic therapies were applied, but her symptoms persisted. Various diagnoses were made before the definitive diagnosis.Conclusion: MCS is an unusual entity of unknown pathophysiology that can, on rare occasions, coexist with food allergies. Early recognition and multidisciplinary treatment are required as these entities have a major impact on the patient’s quality of life. We present the first Latin American case regarding the association of the two diseases.Keywords: type I hypersensitivity, idiopathic environmental intolerance, environmental exposure, food allergy

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