It really depends on the individual’s immune system. Any allergen can cause anaphylaxis, technically. It just depends on how sensitive the individual is to it. I’ve seen anaphylaxis from pollen and mild, localized reactions to bee stings. It just depends on what your genetic makeup has in the cards for you, generally speaking.
It is also worth noting that each subsequent time a person is exposed to an allergen it has the potential to be much worse. The immune system “remembers” the allergen and packs a bigger punch next time. There’s hardly any predicting what exposure is eventually going to be the anaphylactic one though: for some people it happens after the second exposure, and for some it takes either much longer or never does occur.
Most people find out about severe allergies early on in life, but every once in a while chronic exposure to a substance triggers a severe reaction out of the blue in an older adult. I don’t believe it’s very well understood why this is.
SlightlyCorrosive t1_iv035ab wrote
Reply to Why do some allergens (e.g. certain pollens) cause mild allergic reactions, but others (e.g. nuts, bee venom) cause life-threatening reactions? by com2420
It really depends on the individual’s immune system. Any allergen can cause anaphylaxis, technically. It just depends on how sensitive the individual is to it. I’ve seen anaphylaxis from pollen and mild, localized reactions to bee stings. It just depends on what your genetic makeup has in the cards for you, generally speaking.
It is also worth noting that each subsequent time a person is exposed to an allergen it has the potential to be much worse. The immune system “remembers” the allergen and packs a bigger punch next time. There’s hardly any predicting what exposure is eventually going to be the anaphylactic one though: for some people it happens after the second exposure, and for some it takes either much longer or never does occur.
Most people find out about severe allergies early on in life, but every once in a while chronic exposure to a substance triggers a severe reaction out of the blue in an older adult. I don’t believe it’s very well understood why this is.