Impact of Life-Threatening Childhood Food Allergies
Impact of Life-Threatening Childhood Food Allergies
Currently, no definitive treatment or cure exists for food allergies (Bollinger et al., 2006; Gillespie, Woodgate, Chalmers, & Watson, 2007; Jones & Scurlock, 2006), and the course of food-induced anaphylaxis cannot be predicted (Mandell et al., 2005). Standard of care suggests health care professionals educate caregivers on how to avoid food antigens as the primary method of preventing life-threatening reactions in sensitized children. Families must be counseled on how to carefully read food labels to identify offending allergens. Muñoz-Furlong (2003) suggests that label reading is the foundation of food allergy management.
Education on recognizing early symptoms of an allergic reaction is also critical to enable caregivers to initiate appropriate emergency therapy through the use of self-injected epinephrine (Butt & Macdougall, 2008; Mandell et al., 2005; Neuget et al., 2001; Sampson, 2004; Shimamoto & Bock, 2002). Epinephrine is the gold-standard treatment for anaphylaxis because it suppresses histamine release from the mast cells and baso phils, and works on vasodilatation, edema, and bronchoconstriction. To maximize benefit of treatment, epinephrine should be administered as soon as symptoms, such as itching, swelling, tightening of the throat, or nausea, present (Gillespie, 2002). Therefore, it is imperative that all children at risk for life-threatening food allergies are prescribed self-injected epinephrine, and they and their families are instructed on appropriate use.
Standard of Care
Currently, no definitive treatment or cure exists for food allergies (Bollinger et al., 2006; Gillespie, Woodgate, Chalmers, & Watson, 2007; Jones & Scurlock, 2006), and the course of food-induced anaphylaxis cannot be predicted (Mandell et al., 2005). Standard of care suggests health care professionals educate caregivers on how to avoid food antigens as the primary method of preventing life-threatening reactions in sensitized children. Families must be counseled on how to carefully read food labels to identify offending allergens. Muñoz-Furlong (2003) suggests that label reading is the foundation of food allergy management.
Education on recognizing early symptoms of an allergic reaction is also critical to enable caregivers to initiate appropriate emergency therapy through the use of self-injected epinephrine (Butt & Macdougall, 2008; Mandell et al., 2005; Neuget et al., 2001; Sampson, 2004; Shimamoto & Bock, 2002). Epinephrine is the gold-standard treatment for anaphylaxis because it suppresses histamine release from the mast cells and baso phils, and works on vasodilatation, edema, and bronchoconstriction. To maximize benefit of treatment, epinephrine should be administered as soon as symptoms, such as itching, swelling, tightening of the throat, or nausea, present (Gillespie, 2002). Therefore, it is imperative that all children at risk for life-threatening food allergies are prescribed self-injected epinephrine, and they and their families are instructed on appropriate use.
Source...