Schoolboy who suffered two heart attacks after being given a chocolate by teacher

[AuntieMaggie]

I don't have children yet but this really made me cry here

I hope the poor boy recovers soon :(

Obvioulsy I've come across plenty of people on the interent with very serious allergies.

But no-one in real life.

southeastastra People without allergies seem often to be not particularly well-informed about them, which is perhaps natural (unless you're a teacher etc).

This news story (and this thread) illustrates how that lack of understanding can be dangerous for people with allergies. Anything which raises awareness might reduce the risks which allergic children have to face every day. I've have thought that was achieving something.

ok sorry for my point. but what about my epipen question, can you not have one with a minimum dose in case of emergencies or undiagnosed conditions?

There is always an emphasis though on nut allergies, which I understand as both my ds's are severely allergic to peanuts and all tree nuts. However, ds2 is also anaphylactic to dairy and carries an epipen for it. The amount of times I have had to stop people from offering him milk chocolate, ice-cream, cakes, biscuits or even something as seemingly harmless as ham (which often contains milk) "as a treat" (yeah, thanks, that will kill him, if it's all the same to you).

People will never understand what having an anaphylactic child is like unless you have witnessed it yourself. It is truly terrifying to not know whether your lo will survive, due to a seemingly harmless bit of food.

Teachers should find other ways to give children treats at school. Please don't give them food, you could kill a small child with allergies .

NICE has a criteria for giving epipens. I assume they are not standard in school because

1. cost
2. someone would have to be trained how and when to use it ie. again cost
3. potentially dangerous if used in the wrong circumstances
4. the pens go out of date relatively quickly and again someone would have to be responsible for it ie. again cost.

He asked the teacher if he was could have a chocolate. Obviously he meant 'Is it safe for me to have a chocolate?' but I would think put it in this way cause most of the adults he generally asks to check his food (parents, his teacher) know he is allergic to nuts so do not need this constantly restated.

It is the sort of stupid misunderstanding that helps make tragedies like this happen. But the teacher should have been aware, dammit.

One outcome of this thread is I will be checking with ds1's school about how they ensure supply teachers are informed about childrens' allergies.

M44, I'm really sorry that you went through that. Our school has a no nut policy, posters everywhere with pictures and details about the children with allergies, and the teachers are pretty clued up, but I think a lot of that is because the parents are on at them all the time. You can never relax, but it's way stressful and tiring.

He was given his epipien straight away. Presumably he keeps one in school.

It is the fact they have had masses of eduation from me, the allergy nurse, pictures are up and in the register.....but still it happens.

Epipens are prescribed medicines so a school can only keep and use them them for children for whom they are prescribed. They can't just keep one handy in case an undiagnosed child has a reaction (unfortunately). Parents of children at our school who need Epipens have to provide 3 - one for school office, one for classroom and one for another block which is some distance from the main school. The staff also have anaphylaxis first-aid training (St John's Ambulance do a low cost half-day course which is excellent).

An Epipen is just a way of keeping the child alive until the ambulance arrives: it won't stop a heart attack or cardiac arrest happening. So they are vital but they're not a reason not to take the utmost care about what the children eat at school.

BM
Still cannot see where it says that he asked his teacher if could have a chocolate. Has the website been changed?

One good thing may come out of a thread like this - raised awareness.

Very good point about teaching the children to say, "I have a allergy, is it safe for me to eat this?" rather than "Can I eat this?" which can be misunderstood.

His mum gave him the epipen as he ate the sweet as he was coming out of school and started to react as she was going out of school with him, from what it says in the article.

If you have no experience of allergies I think it is all too easy to underestimate what it actually means and how serious it potentially could be.

I'm saying that from experience as I was diagnosed with a nut allergy a couple of years ago, after severe reaction to a slice of pecan pie. My throat swelled, I couldn;t speak properly and was wheezing like I was having a severe asthma attack but my inhalor didn;t help at all.

I now carry an epipen and avoid all nuts because the next time could be a full on anaphylactic reaction but it really brought home to me how serious nut allergies are.

True allergies, especially among adults, are relatively rare but there are so many people who claim to be 'allergic' to something when in actual fact they are either mildly intolerant or just making a fuss. 'Allergy' has become such an overused term that I think it's lost its meaning, in a way. Being allergic to something is seen as so commonplace that the tiny minority of people who are genuinely and dangerously allergic aren't taken seriously.

'Rehan was handed the Quality Street chocolate with a hazelnut in it at the end of the school day on Tuesday and began eating it.
His mother then saw him spit it out at the school gate and a few minutes later noticed his complexion change and face swell.
She immediately gave him a shot from an EpiPen - a boost of adrenaline - which he carried on him. But it failed to make an immediate impact, and an ambulance was called to the school.'

MmeLindt

Yes, you are right - it doesn't say that now but does say that he was off the ventilator, which it didn't earlier.

I guess they update the articles - didn't know that.

I don't know Pixie. Is celery a contact allergy?

I guess that the nut allergies are simply more common.

I absolutely agree Pixie. As stated earlier, ds2 is anaphylactic to dairy. People think that nut allergies are the only serious ones and consider others to be much less so. In some instances this is simply not the case.

Milk allergy is another one. Potentially that can cause an anaphylactic reaction but cartons of milk are supplied in every Reception classroom in the country as part of the free milk for under 5's policy.

Removing all allergens from a school is absolutely impossible but there needs to be sufficient policies and strategies in place to minimise risk where a serious allergy is known.

Perhaps nut-free is not the way to go then, but more awareness and training of teachers.

Even making sure that they are aware of the difference between an allergy and an intolerance.

Also sesame and chickpea (because chickpea is botanically related to peanuts, I think). Theer was some research published about 10 days ago which said that if a person is allergic to both peanuts and trees nuts, they are more likely to be allergic to sesame.

I think it is all about awareness, which is growing as the problem is becoming more common, but sadly not keeping up in some cases. Maybe one day schools will be celery-free and sesame-free. I can't see that that would seriously disadvantage anyone. Dairy is obviously more tricky.