A new report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal details the experience of an eight year-old boy who, following a blood transfusion, experienced a severe allergic reaction to salmon when he previously had no allergies at all. I read the article via CTV News with interest this morning, because I've never heard of this happening before.
The boy was being treated for brain cancer, and had eaten salmon before without issue, but following the blood transfusion experienced symptoms of anaphylaxis after eating the fish. Days later, he experienced another allergic reaction, this time to peanuts. I'm not entirely sure why he wasn't administered epinephrine since his reactions to both salmon and peanuts were severe - swollen lips, vomiting, fatigue - but his symptoms did subside after antihistamines, so I'm glad to say he survived the reactions.
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Doctors suspected that the allergies may have been transferred via blood transfusions received as part of the boy's cancer treatment, and Canadian Blood Services confirmed that one of the donors had severe allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and fish.
That is absolutely terrifying.
The reactions, however, seem to be temporary, as five months after the reactions, the boy's blood tests were negative for IgE specific to salmon and peanuts.
The report says this kind of occurrence is extremely rare, but isn't that still so scary? Should Canadian Blood Services screen for allergies in donors, too?
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