Children with severe food allergies often carry a device to inject themselves with a dose of epinephrine, in case of a bad allergic reaction.
But one dose may not be enough for some patients, especially if they also have asthma, according to a new study from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
The authors analyzed 95 allergic reactions - as a result of accidental exposure to peanuts, in most cases - for which the drug was administered, and found that a second dose was given in 18 of them. A third dose was given in six of those 18 cases.
In addition to one or more food allergies, all but one of the 18 multiple-dose patients also suffered from asthma. Writing in the online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the authors recommended that children with both asthma and a significant food allergy carry two doses of epinephrine with them.
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