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Tue 29 Nov, 2005 12:02 am
Whenever I read stories like this, it amazes me how little it can take to kill someone!
SAGUENAY, Quebec (AP) - A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, hospital officials said Monday......
Teen With Peanut Allergy Dies After Kiss
I am not amazed, myself, about anaphylaxis. More, I'm amazed that people don't know about it. Not to blame "people", or to blame medical people in general. There is a communication gap afoot...
In this case I am not so sure if I feel worse for the peanut butteree than that poor peanut butter-er. Terrible for both, no kidding.
Very sad. I have an allergy to shell fish, I break out in hives.
I know a guy who is allergic to sesame seeds. He was at a home where they served bagels. He picked a plain one, which was lying next to a sesame seed bagel. Some of the sesame oil probably got onto his bagel. He ended up in the ER.
Yep, the peanut allergy is very serious. I know someone who has it and have seen it in action.
Yeah, heard this one on the news this morning.
The poor boyfriend must be in a state of shock.
Awful.
If you're allergic, don't kiss a guy's peanuts.
That's a very sad story.
An ex of mine had a bad allergy to peanuts. One month into our relationship I started carrying one of those needles in my purse. Some people called me paranoid but now I feel justified!
That kid is going to be scarred for life. Can you imagine? And anaphylaxis often works fast and most people don't react quickly enough to save the life of the person in shock.
So sad.
I have a friend who is tremendously allergic to bee stings and simply cannot get stung again..
she has the appropriate syringe et al in her car, her purse, house and yard...
it must be hard to be on guard so much.
My dad is allergic to bees. Once a while back, he was stung and was stubborn and didn't go to the hospital right away....and he doesn't carry and epipen. By the time they got there, literally he was shutting down. He just said to the nurse, "let me die." But she stuck him with the adrenaline and thank god he is still with us.
I believe anaphylactic reactions are progressive.
Bella Dea wrote:That kid is going to be scarred for life. Can you imagine? And anaphylaxis often works fast and most people don't react quickly enough to save the life of the person in shock.
So sad.
I was talking w/ a co-worker about this yesterday....she made the remark the the girls parents will make all the difference in this boys life right now.
Even in the throes of grief, to let him know it wasn't his fault would mean a lot.
ossobuco wrote:I believe anaphylactic reactions are progressive.
The throat can close in seconds if you are severly allergic, causing death in minutes from suffocation.
Or am I dreaming this up? I could be. Must investigate.
Ok, here's the scoop.
Apparently, food anaphylaxis doesn't normally progress as quickly as a drug or sting. Probably because drug or stings are injected straight into the blood stream. A drug or sting reaction can be within seconds and this type of anaphylaxis is the one most typically associated with anaphylactic shock. Food anaphylaxis brought on by foods causes skin and resperatory reactions and your typical swollen throat reaction to shellfish.
So yes, back to my original statement. Anaphylaxis can progress in seconds and cause death from suffocation or cause the heart to stop within minutes.
I recently heard that peanut allergy has the fastest growing allergy incidence in America. I wonder why that is?
J_B wrote:I recently heard that peanut allergy has the fastest growing allergy incidence in America. I wonder why that is?
Is it vain to quote oneself?
Here's what I found. The prevalence of peanut allergies increased two-fold between 1997 - 2002 among children. The rate of increase was not significantly different in adults but was significant in children.
Quote:Although the rate of peanut allergy, tree nut allergy, or both was not significantly different from 1997 to 2002 among adults, the rate increased from 0.6% to 1.2% among children, primarily as a result of an increase in reported allergy to peanut (0.4% in 1997 [12 of 2998] to 0.8% [26 of 3127] in 2002).198
2. The second article is by Kagan, et al, entitled Prevalence of peanut allergy in primary-school children in Montral, Canada. The prevalence of peanut allergy was estimated by administering questionnaires re peanut allergy to children in kindergarten through grade 3 in randomly selected schools. The respondants were stratified as follows: (1) peanut tolerant, (2) never-rarely ingest peanut, (3) convincing history of peanut allergy, and (4) uncertain history of peanut allergy. Groups 2, 3, and 4 underwent peanut skin prick tests (SPTs), and if the responses were positive in groups 2 or 4, measurement of peanut-specific IgE were undertaken. Children in group 3 with a positiv SPT response were considered allergic to peanut without further testing. Children in groups 2 and 4 with peanut-specific IgE levels of less than 15kU/l underwent oral peanut challenges.
http://www.allerg.qc.ca/peanutallergy.htm#increase
Quote:Researchers believe there are several reasons for increased rates of peanut allergy in children:
* The increased allergenicity of peanuts when roasted.
* Children eating peanuts when their immune systems are immature.
* The use of topical ointments containing peanut and the use of soy formulas.
http://www.allergypreventioncenter.com/articles/peanut.html
That is not what I meant by progressive, Bella Dea - I should have explained more.
I seem to remember that an allergen that causes anaphylaxis in a patient brings a worse reaction the next time(s) the patient is exposed to it. I think penicillin reactions have been the classic example of that.
I guess it is not always worse - I remember reading that some people with peanut allergies do "grow out" of it. Why some people grow out of it and some can die from exposure to a very small amount is surely a complex matter.
I haven't read up on it in years. I mentioned it only in that if someone you know has had a bad reaction, carrying the syringe apparatus might be very wise for him (presuming his doctor agrees). My mother nearly died of a sting by, I think, a hornet, and probably should have carried medication. As it happened, she never had another bee sting.
E.G. has allergies galore and we've had a post-it note saying "get an Epi-pen" for a while. Really should.
This story is just so sad all around. I'm also thinking of the girl's parents, and how they'd shepherded her through 15 years of perils and then were likely trying to lay back, not hover, let her be independent...
Ugh.
I agree with Chai that as angry as they must be, I hope they reach out to the boy and reassure him.
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