Recognizing allergic reactions

Pediatrician Lawrence Kagan, MD, shares advice for parents on how to recognize the common signs of an allergic reaction in children and what to do if your child is having an allergic reaction
How To Recognize Allergic Reactions In Children
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Recognizing allergic reactions

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Children can have an allergic reaction to many different things. It can be like a bee sting, which normally creates a local inflammatory response, as opposed to a systemic inflammatory response, where you see hives or swelling away from the stinging site. You can have allergies to different foods. You can have allergies to shellfish and to peanuts. Most will present with rashes and more severe forms, there will be swelling. In the most severe causes there will be vasodilation and a lowering of blood pressure. We refer to that as anaphylaxis. That would be the most concerning thing. If a person suddenly becomes very flush, if they feel light-headed, or anything like that happened; that would be a 9-1-1 emergency. You always want to give benadryl. That's your first reaction to any allergic reaction. As a medical authority may give steroids and in the most profound cases, they may give epinephrine.

Pediatrician Lawrence Kagan, MD, shares advice for parents on how to recognize the common signs of an allergic reaction in children and what to do if your child is having an allergic reaction

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Lawrence Kagan, MD

Pediatrician

Lawrence Kagan, MD, FAAP, is a UCLA honors graduate, with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. He received medical training at USC Keck School of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. In addition to passionately studying neonatal, general pediatric and adolescent medicine at CHLA, he had the opportunity to train under some of the greatest minds in subspecialty pediatrics, diagnosing and managing the rarest and most complicated childhood ailments. Prior to opening Westside Pediatrics, he worked as an attending physician at the CHLA Emergency Department as well as at Cedars Sinai Urgent Care. Dr. Kagan is a native of Los Angeles and is happily married with two children.

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Transcription: 
Children can have an allergic reaction to many different things. It can be like a bee sting, which normally creates a local inflammatory response, as opposed to a systemic inflammatory response, where you see hives or swelling away from the stinging site. You can have allergies to different foods. You can have allergies to shellfish and to peanuts. Most will present with rashes and more severe forms, there will be swelling. In the most severe causes there will be vasodilation and a lowering of blood pressure. We refer to that as anaphylaxis. That would be the most concerning thing. If a person suddenly becomes very flush, if they feel light-headed, or anything like that happened; that would be a 9-1-1 emergency. You always want to give benadryl. That's your first reaction to any allergic reaction. As a medical authority may give steroids and in the most profound cases, they may give epinephrine.