05:43 PM EST on Monday, November 7, 2005

There’s new concern that patients with severe allergic reactions are not getting the right treatment and follow up instructions by healthcare providers.

The consequences, down the road, could be deadly, researchers fear.

“At the ER, they were so concerned with getting me in and getting me out, they failed to mention it,” said Chris Lucius, who has allergies to food.

The “it” is an epi-pen. It’s a device that people like Chris could need at any moment to save their lifes should they be exposed to a food their systems would react to.

Dr. Beth Corn, an allergist at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, says, “If a patient has had a severe reaction that has landed them in the emergency room where they've needed adrenaline then that patient should be walking around with an epi-pen at all times because chances are the reaction can happen again.”

According to new research, doctors on the front lines, in the emergency care setting, are not following guidelines on the management of anaphylaxis, which is a severe allergic reaction.

Only 55 percent of the patients who had a severe systemic reaction got a prescription for injectable epinephrine.

Patients also aren’t being told what to watch for - many patient don’t know - because they’re never instructed about the early warning symptoms, including nausea and diarrhea.

One important point of follow up is referral to an allergist for allergy testing and to be considered for immunotherapy, or allergy shots.

Only 39 percent got just such a referral.

Only 12 percent were given information on how to avoid the cause of their allergies.

“Education is key, it is extremely important to make your patient aware of what they are allergic to and how to combat a reaction or even prevent a reaction before it becomes severe,” says Dr. Corn.

To underscore the importance of the referral to an allergist, of the patients who went to their appointments, 89 percent had positive skin tests and were recommended to get allergy shots.