Are the Dangers of Food Allergies in Children Exaggerated?

Filed in archive Food Allergies , Living with Allergies on September 4, 2006

Since I started writing this blog, I have encountered reports of increasing incidences of food allergies innumerable times. It is alarming and intriguing. On the other hand, to some extent, it is comforting knowing that my son who had, and still has, a number of food allergies, is not an isolated case. There are many of us, and I believe in the strength of numbers.

But Dr. Allan Colver, a professor of community Child Health at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, says that the dangers of childhood food allergies are over-estimated, and that prescribing adrenaline-injecting s to children with food allergies may only be fuelling anxiety in parents unnecessarily.

Jonathan Hourihane, a professor of pediatrics and child health at University College Cork in Ireland, however, disagrees, and maintains that autoinjectors are justified as part of an integrated care plan.

Read about their debate in the CBC News, or the full article published in the British Medical Journal. You may also want to read a comment left by Jonathan Shaw, Director of The Allergy Show, who disagrees with Dr. Colver:

The evidence is that there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of children who are allergic to nuts - but who have not received proper advice. The House of Commons Select Committee on health estimates that 250,000 children are allergic to peanuts - yet the prescription data implies that only a small fraction are prescribed adrenaline auto- injectors. Because nut allergy is unpredictable and the fact that past reactions have been mild does not imply that future reactions will not be severe, many allergists believe that all children with nut allergy should carry adrenaline - not just those with asthma or a history of severe reactions.

My son has peanut allergies, and we were not prescribed an epinephrine injector. We've been lucky in that he's been able to avoid exposure so far, and for other food allergies, Fenistil seems to work and quieten most symptoms. I suppose his allergic reactions are not yet that severe. But I don't want to wait til the luck runs out. I'm setting an appointment with his allergist ASAP.