A ten-year-old girl with fever, "urticaria multiforme", and painful joint swelling - case report
We present the case of a 10-year-old girl who was admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Preventive Cardiology and Immunology of the Developmental Age at the Medical University of Lodz with symptoms of a post-surgical disease-type reaction - with fever, generalized, multiform urticaria, facial edema and arthritis. From the history obtained from the mother indicated that the above symptoms appeared two days ago, a few hours after the the moment the girl played with a leaf of chefflera, the so-called umbrella tree, Schefflera actinophylla. Interestingly, the reaction was accompanied by significantly elevated levels of IgE total. This exotic potted plant, popular in Poland, from the araliacae family (Araliacae), contains falcarinol, a chemical compound responsible for rare cases of allergy inhalation and contact allergies in gardeners or florist workers, among others. So far, no described reaction of the type of septicaemic disease due to contact with this plant.




