MP Shah Hospital hosts Allergy Society of Kenya

MP Shah Hospital hosted the first ever allergy symposium with the Allergy Society of Kenya, attracting doctors and medical practitioners in the Kenyan health industry.

The event was held at the M.P. Shah Hospital main hall on June 9, 2018, coming at a time when changes in environment and climate have imposed allergic reactions.

The symposium was graced by the Chairman of the hospital Board of Governance, Dr. Manoj Shah alongside Dr. Manilal Dodhia, Vice Chairman, and Ms. Toseef Din, Chief Operating Officer.

The symposium focused on the most common allergic conditions in Kenya today including pediatric and adult asthma, allergic rhinitis, gastrenteropathies, and atopic dermatitis. The audience was also taken through diagnosis and management of allergic conditions as well as use of nebulisers, inhalers, spacers and peak flows.

Allergy is a relatively new word, coined just over a hundred years ago. It now encompasses a whole range of disease; from the bothersome but not so dangerous allergic conjunctivitis and allergic rhinitis to their menacing cousin bronchial asthma, which is a leading cause of morbidity in respiratory medicine despite many advances in its management, and is still a social stigma and sometimes a diagnostic enigma.

Whereas many allergic conditions are chronic, they nevertheless constitute a significant proportion of the reasons underlying hospital visits.

Speaking during the event, Ms. Din acknowledged the need for stakeholders to prepare in handling life-threatening allergic and anaphylactic reactions that are of an emergent nature.

“Due to the wide spectrum of diseases with underlying allergy, there are a plethora of medications and management guidelines available. However, this plenitude of choice must be utilized with local context and applicability,” she said.

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