Goodbye
In this last step Andreas J. Bircher thanks you for your interest and the work you put into this course. Congratulations on having finished the course ‘Allergies: When the Immune …
Course: Allergies: When the Immune System Backfires
Self-reflection
Congratulations, you have just finished the final quiz on allergies. How did it go? How do you feel after taking this quiz? Try to reflect on your knowledge: was it …
Diagnosis of drug hypersensitivities: a jigsaw puzzle
Drug allergies and hypersensitivities are very heterogeneous and so are the underlying mechanisms and reactions. The ABCDEF rule is a scheme which can be applied to diagnose drug hypersensitivities by …
An unexpected effect of a pain medication
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics in general belong to the most frequently taken drugs worldwide. This case study shows how an NSAID causes a drug hypersensitivity reaction through a …
A drug rash does rarely require rush decisions
This case illustrates that even if only a few drugs are involved, a clear description of skin lesions, all drugs taken, and the chronology of events are helpful for the …
Mechanisms and manifestations of drug hypersensitivities
Drug hypersensitivities are the biggest challenges in clinical allergology, since the various drug molecules may cause non-immunological reactions as well as different types of allergic reactions. Adverse drug reactions are …
Diagnosing allergic contact dermatitis
In order to correctly diagnose allergic contact dermatitis it is important to distinguish between the three types of eczema: allergic contact eczema, irritant contact eczema, and atopic dermatitis. After a …
Contact allergens
Contact allergens are quite different with regard to allergens causing immediate type reactions. They are usually small molecules – called haptens – which connect to proteins to become a complete …
Symptoms and manifestations of contact dermatitis and eczema
In early stages, irritant contact dermatitis manifests itself in itch, redness, fine scales, and cracks. Signs of allergic contact dermatitis include itch, redness, swelling, small blisters, and oozing. Chronic exposure …
Mechanisms of contact dermatitis or eczema
Three major types of dermatitis or eczema are distinguished: Allergic contact dermatitis, irritant contact dermatitis, and atopic dermatitis. The most common external cause of contact dermatitis is contact with mild …
The discovery of contact dermatitis
In antiquity physicians believed too much internal heat to be the reason for eczema. Only in the second half of the 20th century scientists got a clearer idea of what …
Case: the black henna tattoo
Welcome back! We are happy that you will join the third and last week of this course. In this week you will get to know to more types of allergic …
Self-reflection
Congratulations, you have just finished Week 2 in which you recognized different types of allergic disorders and considered how they could be treated. You just concluded this week with a …
Medication in an emergency
Patients who have suffered from a severe anaphylactic reaction to an insect sting or to food should be equipped with emergency medication. These medications include adrenaline – administered using an …
Therapeutic approaches
We distinguish three approaches to treat symptoms in immediate type allergies. The first option is ‘elimination’ – meaning the avoidance of the allergen. The second option is the ‘pharmacotherapy’ – …