Tasty treats that can kill
Monday August 04 2008
FOOD allergies, which can cause serious reactions in children, are much more common than generally believed — they can affect six per cent of school-goers.
Around 20,000 children suffer from a potentially life-threatening allergy to peanuts alone. Yet there is only one specialist in childhood food allergies to service the entire country.
He is Professor Jonathan Hourihane who was appointed at Cork University Hospital three years ago. Parents whose children need specialist treatment have to travel there from far-flung areas.
Although a significant number of childhood food allergies can be dealt with by family doctors, some are complex and need the care of a specialist.
“We should have four paediatric allergists working in two properly staffed centres in this country,” Prof Hourihane told Irish Medical News. “In Finland they have 100 paediatric allergists for a population of five million.”
Allergy is a term which is often applied too quickly to describe a child's aversion to a particular food and it must be diagnosed properly.
This is done by way of a skinprick test and this is usually followed by a blood test to find out how severe the allergy is.
The child must avoid the particular food but, as parents know, this may be next to impossible to achieve and can lead to enormous stress.
Symptoms of an allergy can include wheezing, sinus pain (feelings of pressure or pain high up in the nose, around the eyes, and at the front of the skull) and a runny nose.
They can also include coughing, nettle rash/hives, swelling, itchy eyes, ears, lips throat and palate, shortness of breath, and sickness, vomiting and diarrhoea.
An allergy is often picked up indirectly when a child is taken to hospital showing symptoms of eczema or asthma.
Antihistamines, which are taken in tablet, cream and liquid form, can help allergies by blocking the action of the chemical histamine, which the body releases when it thinks it is under attack from an allergen.
Many parents whose children have a severe allergy have to ensure they have a ready-touse pen containing medical adrenaline which they must inject into the child when the reaction is serious.
- Eilish O'Regan
