Clinical criteria for anaphylaxis: Comparing apples and pears

Abstract

Anaphylaxis is defined byWAO as “Anaphylaxis is a serious systemic hypersensitivity reaction that is usually rapid in onset and may cause death.” There is no gold-standard definition for anaphylaxis, which is a clinical diagnosis. Clinical criteria are a diagnostic aid, not a gold-standard definition. One reason for the development of the new WAO anaphylaxis criteria was to try and solve some of the ambiguity of the NIAID/FAAN criteria which can lead to non-anaphylaxis reactions (such as skin and mild gastrointestinal symptoms) being wrongly diagnosed as anaphylaxis.