Dawgfaninca

I read an old short-story about a girl (the title of the story/book was ''Just One Cup of Water could Kill Little Heidi'') who would go into anaphylaxis if she got even a teeny drop of water in her mouth (requiring adrenaline shots to save her life) as her immune system saw H2O molecules as foreign and she was born this way. For example early on in the story she accidentally drank a mouthful of water and almost died. The story said she once had surgery and was given a drip afterwards, and went into shock because the drip was ''water based'' and she was getting water injected into her veins. She had to wear a spacesuit like contraption to avoid breathing in the water vapor (H2O molecules) in the air as that could instantly kill her since her immune system saw H2O molecules as foreign if she got any of them inside of her body. So I Googled ''IgE antibodies against H2O'' or ''anaphylaxis to the H2O molecule being ingested'' and couldn't find anything. Closest thing I could find was skin irritation (called Aquagenic Urticaria), but not an allergy, upon contact with water. Anaphylaxis isn't a symptom of it though and doesn't match the girl's condition in the story. This story is very popular in my country and several news websites have ran sequels and variations of it, while reporting it as if it were a genuine news story.

I recently came across this cheesy article about a girl named ''Heidi Falconer'' who is so severely allergic to water (and was born with it, apparently!) that if she gets just a teeny drop of water in her throat, she could die of severe shock. Here's the article - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/thieves-shatter-allergy-girls-life-1317690.html She also says she cannot drink water or she will die. Instead she has to drink milk and orange juice, ''which because of their chemical composition bring her no harm''. Yet I've heard that saliva, the stuff that's constantly coating your throat and filling up your mouth every minute, is 99.5% water (in that 99.5% of the molecules are H2O molecules). However, she is not having a constant allergic reaction despite this. There are also other articles about her for instance her celebrating her 21st birthday - https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/water-allergy-girl-reaches-21st-58672 This is not consistent at all with ''Aquagenic Urticaria'' which is a skin condition only and it is not an allergy so this is something different, more to do with water on the skin reacting with a compound, and then producing an irritant. It does not affect drinking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquagenic_urticaria However ''Heidi'' here claims that she can go into anaphylactic shock is she even ingests water. Aquagenic Urticaria does not affect persons with it when they ingest water, unlike the case I'm referring to here where she says she not only reacts if it touches her skin but also if she swallows it. What are your thoughts on this? It also seems as if others have followed her lead as there were a plethora of other women claiming they were ''so allergic'' to water that they could not drink water without their throats closing up - this woman says she has to drink diet cola/pepsi to survive - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1172102/Mothers-allergy-water-means-drink-bathe-wipe-away-sons-tears.html some others were named Rachel Warwick and Barbara Ward. Is it possible for the H2O molecule to even be an allergen?

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/water-allergy-girl-reaches-21st-58672 http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160915-the-woman-who-is-allergic-to-water http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2014-07-10/this-is-barbara-from-hartlepool-she-is-allergic-to-water/ All of these sources they say they not only have an allergic reaction to water on the skin but they have an allergic anaphylaxis reaction internally if they drink water which rules this out as just a skin condition causing non-allergic reactions such as hives. The first one was born with the allergy, but the others suddenly became allergic. (Not surprising, I suddenly became allergic to peanuts and milk when I was 10 and 15 even though I had no problems with them before that.) Do they have to get their salivary glands removed? Or take pills to stop the production of saliva? Because if not, then they have H2O molecules always in their mouth and throat.

bump

bump

In recent years I've come across several cases in the press of people being 'allergic to water', and while these articles often cite Aquagenic Urticaria, the papers on the condition mention that it isn't an allergy and is a skin condition however in the cases mentioned below the reaction seems very severe and even causes allergy symptoms upon ingestion which is making me ask the title question - I remember seeing on the news about this woman in the UK who can't even drink water and can only drink Diet Coke. There's many other cases like this if you're willing to look them up. Often their throat will blister and swell shut if they drink water. In the case of Rachel Warwick, this woman's throat gets 'scorched' if she drinks water. She drinks milk, which she states doesn't cause a reaction as bad. She also reacts the same if water touches her skin, or if she ingests water. It isn't limited to just the skin. This is also the same case for another 'water allergy' sufferer named Heidi Falconer who says she cannot drink water or even touch water without needing an epi-pen, so she drinks milk and orange juice, which ''do her no harm'' according to the article I read. Which is why I'm asking, is H2O an allergen like peanut proteins or pollen proteins? That is, a (true) allergy where the immune cells receptors see H2O molecule as foreign and attack it every time they see it?