Lhe 72-year-old actor would have succumbed to “anaphylactic shock” caused by “a huge allergy to a medication,” said Gérard Jugnot, who added: “I know they tried to resuscitate him, but he left. » The 72-year-old actor suffered a rare but serious allergic reaction, which took the form of angioedema. “It is a contrast product used during a medical examination which would have triggered this very brutal allergic reaction on Thursday afternoon,” specifies the media.
Nearly 5% of allergy sufferers are affected by anaphylaxis, according to Inserm. The latter is due to an intense activation of immune cells, mast cells in the tissues and basophils in the blood, causing a massive release of histamine in a few seconds/minutes. It can take different clinical forms, affecting one or more organs with varying intensity.
What symptoms?
They most often appear very quickly, within minutes of contact with the allergen. In about 10% of cases, a second reaction occurs a few hours after the first reaction. This phenomenon, called serious acute attack of bradykinic angioedema, requires hospitalization for monitoring.
Anaphylactic shock itself is the most severe form of anaphylaxis. This serious allergic reaction which manifests itself as angioedema or dramatic swelling of the face and respiratory tract, leading to cardiac arrest. Potentially fatal, it constitutes an absolute medical emergency. Treatment is initially based on injectable adrenaline. In addition to adrenaline, the patient may subsequently receive corticosteroids and antihistamines to possibly reduce the symptoms, depending on health insurance. In the event of a serious acute attack of bradykin angioedema, treatment consists of injecting a C1 enzyme concentrate Inhibitor, intravenously, or icatibant subcutaneously, always indicates the health insurance website.
If the actor Michel Blanc seems to have been the victim of a reaction to a medication, the most common allergens causing anaphylactic shock are foods, notably cow’s or goat’s milk, eggs, sesame, shellfish. and fish, nuts. Bee, wasp and hornet venoms cause 16% of anaphylactic shocks and are responsible for several deaths each year in France.
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