Introduction
An allergy passport is a document in which substances to which a person is known to be allergic can be noted. The passport can be requested free of charge both online and from health insurance companies. It is filled out by the doctor treating the patient, for example the family doctor or the doctor who has diagnosed the allergy. As a rule, the patient himself does not have to worry about obtaining the passport, as most allergologists themselves have numerous blank allergy passports available in their practice.
Who needs an allergy pass?
Many people today suffer from allergies. The spectrum ranges from widespread hay fever (pollen allergy) to food allergies, house dust allergies, animal hair allergies and insect venom allergies. Not everyone who suffers from an allergy needs an allergy passport.
For example, patients with hay fever or house dust or animal hair allergies do not need an allergy pass. The allergy pass is primarily important when the allergy can become potentially dangerous. This is especially the case, for example, with food allergies and insect venom allergies.
People who suffer from nut allergies, for example, have a significantly increased risk of suffering anaphylactic shock. Anaphylactic shock is the maximum variant of an allergic reaction. It can lead to swelling of the airways, tachycardia and a drop in blood pressure, and can even lead to circulatory arrest.
People with an insect venom allergy also run this risk. In addition to such allergies, an allergy pass is also useful for people who are allergic to certain drugs or ingredients. For example, allergies to latex, plasters, nickel or medicines such as certain antibiotics.
Here, contact with the allergen can lead to severe skin rashes. Anaphylactic shock is also theoretically possible with this form of allergy. An allergy passport is therefore always important when the allergy can become potentially dangerous and may require rapid treatment.
What is noted in the allergy passport?
In an allergy passport, all substances are recorded where it is known that the patient is allergic to them. As already mentioned, allergies such as animal hair or pollen allergies do not have to be noted here, as these allergies restrict life, but do not lead to life-threatening allergic reactions. Examples of substances that could be noted in an allergy passport are food allergies such as nut allergies, insect venom allergies, drug allergies such as to antibiotics or other drugs, or allergies to certain ingredients such as fragrances or substances such as latex.
The issue of an allergy passport by the general practitioner or allergologist is free of charge, regardless of the health insurance company’s affiliation. The preceding corresponding allergy tests, such as prick test or epicutaneous test, are in most cases – if there is a justified suspicion of an allergy – covered by the statutory and private health insurance companies. In individual cases, the costs should be discussed in advance with the health insurance company or the doctor treating the patient.
