Brazil Nut Allergen Travels Sexually

The first reported case of a sexually transmitted allergic reaction involved a 20-year-old woman with a documented Brazil nut allergy. She developed widespread hives and mild breathing difficulty after intercourse with her boyfriend, who had eaten Brazil nuts earlier. Skin-prick testing found no reaction to semen collected before he ate the nuts but significant reactivity to a sample collected afterward, supporting the researchers' conclusion that the allergen had passed through his semen.

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