Reports of allergic reactions to parsley are limited to individual case reports. A 41-year-old woman experienced a near-fatal anaphylactic attack after parsley ingestion. Initially she experienced itching, abdominal pain, difficulty breathing and palpitations, followed by severe angioedema of the eyes and lips, generalized urticarial plaques and loss of consciousness upon admission to hospital. The symptoms were controlled with epinephrine, antihistamines, intravenous fluid and oxygen therapy. Sensitivity to parsley was confirmed via skin prick testing (3).
Another case report detailed a 26-year-old woman who presented with acute rhinoconjunctivitis, facial swelling, otic and oropharyngeal pruritus, and itchy hands and feet within 5 minutes of eating a sauce containing parsley. Treatment with intramuscular corticosteroids and antihistamines led to improvement of symptoms within a few hours. Subsequent skin prick testing elicited a positive response to parsley (4 mm wheal) and levels of specific IgE antibodies against parsley were also found (1). A 24-year-old woman with a history of seasonal rhinoconjunctivitis described episodes of lip angioedema after the consumption of foods containing raw parsley, as well as the occurrence of itchy erythematous-edematous lesions of the hands after contact with uncooked parsley leaves. The patient did not report any symptoms after the ingestion of cooked parsley. Skin prick tests were performed with parsley allergen extract eliciting a strong positive reaction (12 mm wheal) (4). Additionally, in a study of 14 atopic patients with positive skin prick reactions to mugwort, 12 patients also showed sensitivity to parsley (5).
