A 14-year-old boy has a severe allergy to cold weather that his parents worry he could pass out and die if he's outdoors for more than 15 minutes.
Calum Courtney from Essex in the U.K. has a bad case of cold urticaria, which makes him susceptible to skin breakouts when he's outside. His condition has his mom, Tupney Courtney, and dad, David Courtney, always on the lookout for him because he could risk an anaphylactic shock.
According to Liverpool Echo, the teenager struggles with his severe allergy to cold weather once the temperature drops below 24C or if he doesn't have any thick covering like a jacket or a duvet when he's in bed. He also can't take showers or baths in cold water because his skin turns red, and he experiences feelings of passing out. His mother said that if Calum bangs his hand or bumps his head from playing, he can't have a cold compress to relieve the swelling.
Calum's skin breakouts look like dots of chickenpox, then nettle out and join together. The hives sting, itch and make Calum very uncomfortable.
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Calum Can't Enjoy His Youth
The family found out about his cold urticaria following a diagnosis ten years ago. Calum was playing outside during a family wedding when he had a skin breakout. His parents assumed that he had a reaction to a plant or pollen and was given antihistamines.
However, the hives kept coming back, especially after Calum played on the football field after school. The boy's doctor figured that the cold weather was the trigger, but Calum and his parents were not referred to a specialist for further evaluation.
The doctor told the parents that Calum could still enjoy his young life if he made some lifestyle changes and avoided the cold weather. Short of moving to a country without a cold climate, Tupney believes that her son needs an EpiPen, a type of epinephrine autoinjector. Unfortunately, shortage in supply has made this life-saving medical device for allergy patients quite scarce since 2018.
"I wish we could get him a proper antihistamine that meant he could play out without looking like he's got a disease," Tupney said, per Daily Mail.
Help from a Cold Urticaria Specialist
The family hopes that they will find a specialist allergy to cold weather. According to Dr. Eli Silver of University Hospitals, cold urticaria is most common in young adults, but the experts have yet to determine its exact causes. It's unlikely that the condition is inherited, but the patient may have an underlying health problem or have contracted a virus that could explain the skin's sensitivity.
In Europe, it is believed that only 0.05 percent of people have a severe allergy to cold weather. Many experience the breakouts for five years or so, and then it disappears. However, the doctor said that people with cold urticaria may still enjoy eating ice cream because the capillary bands in the skin are more sensitive than the tissues in the mouth.
