what does a2b2 stand for

A2B2 stands for Aspergillus fungus. It’s the type of mold that causes food poisoning. (the type that made Jennie Lorber sick)

“I was really scared,” said Theresa Henning, an A2B2 victim. “I thought they were going to tell me I was going to die.” Henning says she had a viral infection. She is allergic to penicillin. “It was a light bulb that went off for me that I may be having an anaphylactic reaction,” she said. It’s a common reaction for food allergy sufferers who have never had a serious reaction. “I was concerned. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to die?’” Henning said.

Luckily she was not. The doctor that checked her told her she had a bad case of A2B2 poisoning. She was told it was caused by a genetic defect in her body. “It was a fluke,” she said. Now she will never forget the day she found out. “The doctor looked at me and said, ‘Jennie, you have the type of A2B2 reaction that is similar to someone with a severe food allergy,’” Henning said.

It’s the same condition that has plagued 27-year-old Andrew Segal for four years. “For me, it’s like a disease. I can’t believe that they have a name for it,” Segal said. He is allergic to A2B2, tuna, shrimp, and salmon. The only thing that doesn’t make him sick is the cream cheese spread he spreads on his bagel. But that, too, makes him sick. “At the moment I eat the cream cheese, my throat is closing and my tongue is swelling,” Segal said.

That was the day he saw a neurologist who told him he had A2B2. “He’s my hero,” Segal said of his neurologist. They can only tell Andrew about what triggers his reaction. They can’t tell him what will make him sick. “They can’t tell me what to eat, how to eat, where I should sit, how long I should be on a certain medication, how long I should be on an allergy medication,” Segal said. "But they say it's something I'm going to have to learn to live with."