March 27, 2000 – In a presentation to the Congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Dr. Raymond Mullins of the John James Medical Center in Canberra, Australia presented 23 cases of allergic reaction to echinacea, consistent with hypersensitivity related to immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE is a substance involved in a large number of allergic reactions.
Of the 23 cases of allergic reaction, echinacea was the “definite” cause in two cases, “probable” in 10 cases and “possible” in 11 cases. A good proportion of cases (34%) involved people identified as often having allergic reactions. Another study of 100 people with atopics (sensitive to allergies) showed that 20% of them reacted positively to a skin test for allergy to echinacea.
Dr Mullins concludes that given its very common and unsupervised use, it is inevitable that rare cases of echinacea allergy will appear and less noticeable reactions, such as itching or asthma, will not occur. not reported. As people with a particular sensitivity to allergies are overrepresented in people with an allergic reaction to echinacea, they should be cautioned that their hypersensitivity makes them more likely to have an allergic reaction there as well.
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Based on a press release from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, March 14, 2000