Emergency injector pens – issued to people at risk from allergies – have failed to reduce the number of deaths from food reactions, experts warned yesterday.
And the problem may lie with human fat, a European conference was told.
Now Dr Richard Pumphrey, of Central Manchester Hospitals, UK, is calling for manufacturers to devise new pens with longer needles.
Dr Pumphrey reported his analysis of 110 deaths since the introduction of the pens, known as Epipens, to the conference of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Epipen provides a simple way to inject adrenaline rapidly and users are taught how to jab it into a leg muscle.
Dr Pumphrey says that about half these victims had used an Epipen correctly.
However some of them were overweight – and the pen might not have reached the muscle where it has the greatest impact in injecting.
He says post-mortem examinations had not collected information about the effectiveness of the needle injection – but manufacturers say the force of the injection should mean the adrenaline reaches the muscle.
The doctor said users could be trained better to ensure injections had maximum impact, adding that manufacturers were considering a redesign.
He said: "It is easy to do, but expensive for manufacturers, who would need to make costly adjustments to the design and machinery – but it is something they are considering."
Dr Pumphrey said young patients also need training to ensure they carry the pens at all times. The largest number of deaths are between the ages of 18 and 24.
He said: "Of those who had been given pens, around half used the pen late or not at all because they were not carrying them at the time of the attack."
* A second specialist told the conference that people with food allergies suffer from a reduced quality of life – even though they may rarely be ill and the risk of death is low.
Dr Anthony Dubois, of the Beatrix Children’s Hospital, The Netherlands, reported on a new psychological test called the health-related quality of life.
He said carrying an Epipen might improve quality of life – as would good diagnosis.
He said: "The studies show that uncertainty is a source of diminished quality of life in food allergic patients, and accurate diagnosis with challenge testing improves health-related quality of life."
Leave a Reply