Teenager with peanut allergy dies after a kiss

CTV ^ | November 25, 2005

[EveningStar]

A Quebec teenager with a peanut allergy has died after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten a peanut butter sandwich hours earlier.

[RedMonqey]

Thanks. That explains alot.



That's my "Lesson for the Day" ;)

[najida]

Read lables...

Peanut products (the nuts, oil, butter) are in an amazing number of products...from cake mixes, to cookies, processed snacks to even hot dogs.

When we have kids with peanut allergies, we don't feed them ANYTHING processed....no bakery products, cookies, prepacked products etc. They allergy is so severe that if they eat a cookie that came from the same factory that makes peanut butter cookies, they can go into anaphylactic shock.

So they get plain meats, veges, fruits etc. And the nursing staff still watches closely. Seriously, next to shellfish, this is the worst allergy I've ever seen.

[voiceinthewind]

One of my kids is allergic to peanuts. This child was totally breastfed, no formula ever. Ate a healthy balanced diet. It wasn't until she started to complain about headaches that we investigated further. She carries an epipen 24/7, also benadryl. Her DH also has to be peanut free. Her doctor warned her that if her husband were to eat peanuts, his saliva and sperm would be enough to trigger anaphalactic shock in her.
We were lucky abut school, by the time she was diagnosed she was homeschooled.

[Mom MD]

My child had no soy based formula either. I don't know why the incidence is rising, but keeping the kids out of peanuts is truly a challenge. Now that my son is 16 I can relax a little. Fortunately he vividly remembers his previous run ins with peanuts, and even as an "invincible" teenager, this is something he won't mess with

[xp38]

Taking a famous book title too literally...

[DBrow]

He'll probably be OK. I'm peanut allergic and I made it to be an Old Fart. The number of fatalities per year is not too high, but it makes the news since it's a novelty to reporters.

I agree, you can never let your guard down. My MD thinks I'm absolutely insane to eat in restaurants, but I've learned to cope and ask the right questions.

The Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays are tough- there is always someone with cookies, or a pie, or something, and if you are allergic to peanuts the best thing to do is just say no thanks, there is no way you can trace back from Cousin Glenn to Aunt Mildred's kitchen to see just what she put in it.

Likewise potlucks. I bring lots of stuff I can eat and try to get in line before the serving utensils get cross contaminated.

The current trend to get lawyers involved is just wrong- the person with the allergy is really the only one responsible for food safety, and the parents must teach it well and early. Yeah, sometimes this will mean asking for small accomodations from other people, but in my life I've done this without going to court.

[Rebelbase]

"First off, moron, it was the girl that died. Secondly, and this is probably the most important of the two, you're an ass."

I love your way with words.

[Amelia]

The bottom line is if you have a peanut allergy you need to be vigilant and ready 24/7. This is very difficult to teach teenagers, believe me.

I have a student with one of these allergies. All the student's teachers had to learn to use the epi-pen.

I don't think it would help - every time I ask the student where the pen is (so I'd know where to look if I needed to use it), "It's in my locker."

[PeteB570]

My Five year old has a peanut allergy. We informed the school, the teacher and we put a notice in each kid's pack pack on the first day of school this year.

Within the week a "nice" mother placed a snack in each pack pack, to include my kid's. Of course it contained peanuts. If she had been sitting with her friends and eaten it, it would have killed her.

We have given the office an injector and we carry one with us.

[Hank Rearden]

Sounds like you're taking care of your own child in a world contaminated by peanuts.

This isn't rocket science.

[freespirited]

The bottom line is if you have a peanut allergy you need to be vigilant and ready 24/7.

Absolutely. You can never let your guard down, and it sounds like you are doing a great job.

One more suggestion from someone who has been there. Have your son avoid using aspirin for pain if possible. Here is why I say this.

All my life, when I would have a reaction to unwittingly eating something I was allergic to, I was usually able to control it with a stiff dose of benadryl or atarax. However, there were a couple of times that we had to call an ambulance. It's just my nature to try to figure out what was different about those occasions. On one of them I recalled that I had taken a couple of aspirin shortly before dinner. So, on a lark, I decided to see if there was any chance that aspirin was known to affect the anaphylactic process.

To my utter shock (shock because my doctors never told me), I found evidence that it was. I wouldn't say this is well-established (it still isn't) but there are reports that aspirin enhances the allergic response. This is still the best explanation for one of my very unpleasant and expensive treks to the emergency room. This is getting long so I will post a couple refs in the next message.

[grey_whiskers]

I had had an anaphylactic reaction to an IVP, and it was the scariest thing one could imagine; throat closed up, eyes swelled shut, couldn't breathe, etc., was literally suffocating. And couldn't get the attention of the doctor and tech, who had their backs turned. It is most certainly serious, and I nearly lost my life with medical help two feet away.

Sorry to hear of your ordeal, and glad you're here with us!

So how DID you manage to make it? Did the medical folks turn around in time?

[righttackle44]

"Must...resist...urge...to make...joke."

Yes, you should. This is not a time nor
a subject for comedy--particularly insensitive
comedy.

[Sonny M]

It's only because a black man invented peanut butter.

Your referring to George Washington Carver.

Its an urban legend, while he did many things with peanuts, he did not invent peanut butter, a doctor in Missiouri did.

[TASMANIANRED]

I would make far more sense to make all the kids with peanut allergies go to the same school.

They could be sure that the school was peanut free, all the kids were from peanut free homes.

They could be safe and all the other kids could be normal.

[Jim Noble]

Why the hell are so many people suddenly allergic to peanuts?

With all the shots they get, their little immune systems are all dressed up with nowhere to go.

When their ready-for-combat immune systems run into the peanut antigen, sometimes they are faked out into thinking it's a germ.

[TASMANIANRED]

I saw a study the other day. Kids raised on farms have less asthma and fewer allergies.

They wallow in antigens.

[hershey]

A friend of mine had a similar experience, kissed his prom date...who'd eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...and he ended up in the hospital, nearly died.

[JaguarXKE]

My son is alergic to PB. Never forget the first time we figure that out. We had given him a "Nutter Butter" cookie and within minutes his face looked like he'd been beated with a baseball bat! Scary stuff!

Jag!

[Mom MD]

It's OK. We laugh about it too - you have to or you'd go crazy!

And no, I have never felt the need to involve lawyers either, just be very careful and not trust anyone. I have had waitresses look at me and tell me with a straight face that there are no nuts in the peanut butter cookies!