Tragic nut allergy case...

[Aero]

So, so sad

I'm pretty sure no-one on MN thinks nut allergy isn't serious, but I sometimes hear complaints from parents about children not being allowed to bring certain products to school etc, or occasionally a mention from someone having a party that catering can be a PITA when xyz with a nut allergy is invited. This tragic story just brings it home why we should take other peoples allergies seriously and it for sure makes me appreciate the fact that I'm very lucky to have no nut allergy sufferers myself (although ds1's best friend is allergic and we're very cautious when he's here about what he eats).

My heart goes out to the family of this girl.

I am puzzled as to why she ate the chicken. Did she not realise it had nuts in it?

Such a waste.

So frightening, isnt it.

We were lucky enough to have a specialist nurse visit us at home to give us some training on use of an epipen. She also visited DD's nursery at the time. Her school organise refresher training on epipens but I dont know if this is something they did privately? I thought this was common practice but clearly not.

I'm not sure litigation would be a problem with administering epipens. A sudden dose of adrenaline when not needed is not life threatening at all. Better to be safe than sorry, which is what we were taught during epipen training. What it could do though, is encourage youngsters to be less careful when going out in the false assumption that bar staff could help them in an emergency. That could be the dangerous aspect of it.

Thank you for the heads up about the glue sticks coco - I'll mention it at DD's school. They are quite good, and they do check all food packets when doing stuff, but it's stuff like glue sticks that just wouldnt occur to us - let alone those who dont live with peanut allergies.

B&f - I understand what you are saying, but I dont think it's unfair to expect people to be mindful with younger children, which is what most issues on here are about - young childrens parties where they dont know what they can and cant have. Then, you get instances where I have mentioned to parents about DD's allergy, and parents will still hand their child (who is only 4 themselves, and as it happens - apparently doesnt eat well ) a Snickers bar upon leaving the classroom at home time, knowing that our children often share treats and goodies. That is incredibly careless and selfish, IMO.

dd's school are completely nut free, why would any parent send nut stuff in when they know that it could kill another child? Dd2 class is also egg and rubber free for a child with allergies.

can i crash a wee bit? I'm bf-ing dd just now and haven't started eating peanuts again (avoided when pregnant cos I have hayfever) - i know this is just a straw poll but did those of you who's LOs have allergies eat or avoid nuts? They changed the advice half-way through my pregnancy, and now I'm a bit worried that I should be eating them instead of avoiding.

caz- i ate nuts when pregnant,didn't realise that I should have avoided them.I have very very mild asthma,dh no allergies.

I wish I hadn't had them,ds has tree nut allergy,asthma and eczema

The allergist said it probably wasn't caused by me but I he was just being kind tbh.

I avoided them with DD and she has allergies, asthma, eczma etc.

I didnt so much with DS and he appears fine so far.

I think it is more complex than avoiding nuts in pg and b/feeding. Obviously if you are unsure if your lo has an allergy or predisposition to allergies you should avoid.

The medical jury is still out on avoiding nuts in pg for allergies afaik.

ggirl don't feel bad, VVV is right - they really don't know whether avoiding nuts in pg is helpful or harmful - there is a massive study going on in Kent atm to find out.

I dislike nuts and so didn't have them during my pregnancy with ds1 (7)who has a nut and raw egg white allergy. I always carry 2 epipens in case one malfunctions or I mess up when using it. I am so scared about the teenage years when he is out with friends and an only hope that there is no stugmas attached to carrying epipens and no bravado where risking eating nut products are concerned. I also hope he has good friends who would be able to help in an emergency.

Already last year his best friend at school noticed girl had peanut butter sandwiches in her lunchbox and warned ds and made sure he moved and told a dinner lady. I was very impressed with his BF. The school is meant to be nut free and the dinner lady made sure a note was sent home to the gorls parents but I guess, sadly some parents do have the attitude of 'who should my child go without their favourite sandwich filling' etc etc

i can't see any reason why any public places should not have epipens as a staple in their first aid boxes.

Ggril - please don't feel bad. As PhDlife says, there is debate on whether avoiding nuts is helpful or can actually cause the problem.

I'm allergic to tree nuts and my mother is convinced it's because she craved Brazil nuts when pregnant with me and then when BFing. Who knows? It will be interesting to find out. But I certainly don't blame my mum - and keep reassuring her of this!

To go back to the OP - what a sad story, poor girl.

ggirl... There are very few countries where the advice on restriction of peanuts during pregnancy is given. Mine is one of them, and I never heard of a single case (this is not to say that is safer to eat them, as while peanuts are part of the diet they are normally consumed raw which keeps them less allergenic). I had a single snickers bar while pregnant thinking that due to my genetical background, and the things explained above I wouldn't have any problem...

DS is allergic to eggs, soya, fish, kiwi, wheat, bananas, tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, etc. Has also asthma and suffered from severe eczema.

TBH It has been a while since I stopped blaming myself.I'm totally convinced that a snickers bar during pregnancy could not possibly cause so much damage, he was born like that.

About the gluesticks... does anybody has the name of the brand that uses peanut oil?

Will be interested to see the results of the study-but thanks for your kind words.

I think making our allergic children confident about talking to others about the allergy ,not being embarrassed about it is so important.

Ds has been wearing his allergy bracelet for a few yrs now mainly because it encourages him to talk to people about his allergies when they ask him about it.

I ate loads of cashews and pistachios when pregnant and those are the two ds has strongest allergy to.

I'm worried that the study has received so much attention that people have started to question current guidelines even when there are not yet any conclusive results pro/against current advice.

But as I said, no point to blame yourself

ggirl... Try to forget about that, it won't change the things and only makes you feel bad about it.

yeh I know ..thanks

mysonandi, no sorry i don't. dd teacher brought it up at a parents night a couple of years ago, but didn't mention the name. i just know pritt sticks are ok.

None of my children have ever knowing eaten a nut and this has made me wonder if the longer I wait to give them some, the more likely they are to have a bad reaction.

I avoided them as it was the advice at the time as I have asthma and Dh has hay fever. So hard to know what to do for the best.

I would love them to have peanut butter as I am sure they would love it and I think it is good for them. (Thinking, they may have had a tiny piece of mine.)

that is kind of my worry too - all through pregnancy and now 4mths b-fing I haven't had any - maybe I should have? V confusing.

I had a secretary once who was diagnosed as diabetic. She asked me one day if I would agree to administer insulin if necessary. I felt it was a huge responsibility, so only agreed on the condition that a nurse came to the office and trained me, and one or two others, as I wasn't always there, in the art of administering this sort of medication. It is terribly difficult to puncture human skin, despite nurses making it look terribly simple. Not sure I could do it now, and, even back then, I was uncertain that I would be very effective, but certainly having some training is better than none.

It says in that news report that allergy sufferers are not routinely trained in using the Epipen, which, to me, seems a fairly basic requirement.

When my ds1 was dx with nut allergy we were prescribe epipens with no training. I rang my health visitor as I ws cncerned and she arranged for the distriact nurse to come and train me with a trainer pen and show me a video and answer any questions. She also offered to contact the local district nurses of the grandparents and anyone else who might care for him and would need to know when i was not around.

My GP prescribed an ear wax softener for ds's hard ear wax. Luckily I looked at the ingrediants before I used it and it contained arachis oil aka peanut oil!

I am also confused on the advice offered. I read somewhere that amongst a certain 'tribe' of people where nut pastes are used to wean babies and the mothers have a high intakeof nuts during their pregnancies, there has been no known allergy to nuts with the children born. Of course genetics and other factors have to be added into the equation, but it goes to show that nut allergy is far more complicated than we may realise. There are no hard an fast rules.

My sil suffers terribly severe eczema and is allergic to so many things - food stuffs and additives in moisturosers etc - but she ate nuts during her pregnancies and allowed her childrento eat a variety of nuts from a very early age ad neither so far have shown an allegy (4 and 6 years)