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Exercise-induced anaphylaxis is a rare condition in which anaphylaxis, a serious or life-threatening allergic response, is brought on by physical activity. Approximately 5–15% of all reported cases of anaphylaxis are thought to be exercise-induced.
The exact proportion of the population with EIA is unknown, but a 2001 study of 76,229 Japanese junior high students showed that the frequency of EIA was 0.031%.
Exercise-induced anaphylaxis is not a widely known or understood condition, with the first research on the disorder only having been conducted in the past 40 years. A case report in 1979 on EIA was the first research of its kind, where a patient was described to experience anaphylactic shock related to exercise 5–24 hours following the consumption of shellfish.
The condition is thought to be more prevalent in women, with two studies of EIA patients reporting a ratio of 2:1 for females:males with the disorder. There is, however, thought to be no link to ethnicity.