The potentially deadly scenario of having a single-technician compound allergen immunotherapy in a solitary environment

Abstract

While mixing allergen extract, a 53-year-old man had an accidental needle stick on his finger while withdrawing extract from a 10,000 BAU/mL Bermuda extract vial. He was alone in the office after normal business hours in a locked 2-story office building. Within 5 minutes of exposure, he began sneezing, with a subsequent paroxysm of 20 to 30 sneezes, neck and facial flushing, followed by facial angioedema and globus. He self-administered 3 doses of 0.3 mg epinephrine intramuscularly in the anterolateral thigh over the next 15 minutes along with 20 mg of liquid cetirizine.