Just ten minutes after tasting cashew nut butter for
the first time, Tina Burchill’s seven-month-old son Thomas was in an
ambulance on the way to casualty – he had suffered a life-threatening
allergic reaction…
- Calling the ambulance
- Anaphylactic shock
- Support: The Anaphylactic Campaign
- Advice to parents
- Where to next?
Calling the ambulance
It started as an ordinary teatime. Thomas was with his dad, eating cashew nut
butter spread on bread. I was in the kitchen clearing up. Suddenly, Thomas’ father
was shouting for me to come quickly.
We met in the doorway. Thomas was crying and there was a small white swelling on his
lips. I’d read about nut allergy and my immediate reaction was to call an ambulance, my
voice shaky as I tried not to panic.
We could only wait then as Thomas’ face pumped up to grotesque proportions. The short
wait for the ambulance seemed an eternity. I will never forget his tiny face swollen like
a balloon as he clung to me, distressed and vomiting.
At hospital, he was injected with adrenaline, anti-histamines and hydrocortisone, but
it was several hours before the swelling subsided. We were sent home the next day with an
emergency kit of an adrenaline injection in a ‘pen” and an adrenaline inhaler
that we now have to carry everywhere.
Anaphylactic shock
What my son had suffered was anaphylactic shock
– a severe reaction of the immune system which can kill within minutes. His life is
potentially in danger every time he eats.
Even the slightest trace of the allergen can set off a chain reaction of chemicals in
the body as the immune system overreacts, leading to leaking blood vessels, bronchial
swelling and a drop in blood pressure, resulting in choking and collapse. Symptoms can
also include hives, faintness and unconsciousness, swelling, asthma and vomiting.
Five or six deaths from food-induced anaphylactic shock are reported every year in this
country, with anaphylaxis affecting up to one million people. One in every 200 children
has an allergy to peanuts alone. Statistics also show that very few children die, largely due to the vigilence of their
parents.
Yet despite the increasing number of allergy sufferers, getting the correct diagnosis
and treatment can be a lottery. While some parts of the country have allergists and
clinical immunologists specially trained in the field, other areas do not.
As leading allergist Dr Pamela Ewan says: “Investment is badly needed – we
are way behind other countries in dealing with it. Many GPs have little training or
awareness and many areas are without allergy specialists, making it difficult for patients
to get good advice.”
Support:
The Anaphylactic Campaign
For many parents, the only help available has been from the Anaphylaxis Campaign, which has spent the last six years working to raise awareness of potentially lethal food allergies. It now has 5,600 members – most of them parents of children with serious allergies.
Chairman David Reading helped to launch the campaign in 1994, following the loss of his
17-year-old daughter Sarah who died after eating a lemon meringue pie in a restaurant.
He says: “She knew she was allergic to peanuts, but we didn’t know it could be
fatal. A lot has changed since then but people are still dying unnecessarily.”
Despite extensive research, specialists are still unsure about the causes of such
severe allergic reactions. Dr Ewan believes nut allergy stems from the general increase in
allergic disease, coupled with a change in infant diets, with peanut butter becoming more
popular in recent years.
Advice to parents
Since 1998, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers have been advised that if there is a
history of allergy in the family – including eczema, asthma and hayfever – they should
avoid peanuts. Weaning information has also changed, with “at risk” families
being advised to delay the introduction of peanuts.
I doubt the advice would have helped Thomas. I was avoiding feeding him peanuts anyway.
I did, however, regularly eat peanut butter while pregnant and breastfeeding. Doctors cannot predict what will happen if Thomas ever eats nuts in the future. Skin
tests showed a positive allergy to all nuts and a second attack is usually worse.
It is now two and a half years since he suffered anaphylactic shock, but the memory of
that teatime never fades. I know that only strict vigilance will protect him.
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