One 5-year-old's allergy leads to class peanut ban [lunch searches?????]

SF Chronicle ^

[justshe]

Well.....there IS that too. Death from unknown etiology.

[Paved Paradise]

Actually, the hysterical people are people like you who are so "Chicken-Littleish" that you think asking parents to refrain from bringing in peanut butter to a school will lead to (gasp) banning everything under the sun. Where are our rights? Common sense and loving our neighbors as ourselves would do wonders here. Geez.

[dennisw]

Peanuts are a often rotated with cotton which is sprayed to death. Since it's not a food crop... except for the cottonseed oil potato chips may be fried in. (Ha!)

Peanuts are absorbing the crud sparyed on the previous year's cotton crop. Perhaps today's peanuts bear little resemblance to the peanut of 40 years ago. My opinion is if you cut out a lot of junk food, eat more fresh whole foods, the gluten allergy will go away. Peanuts are tougher to conquer. But I'll still bet if the immune system is strengthened the peanut problem fades.

[Paved Paradise]

Actually, that probably would be the ideal scenario, but unfortunately impractical for most working families today, especially low income or single parent families.

[Eva]

The paranoid mother could also put her kid on a prophylactic dose of anti-histamine which prevent any reaction to any mild accidental secondary exposure to the allergen. This condition is not without remedies.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Apparently, now "It Takes A Nut-Free Village".

[FourPeas]

Congratulations on having sensible, intelligent parents -- and for having them teach you to be the same. It's too bad there aren't more like them.

[Born Conservative]

A child with such a serious allergy is not learning how to live with it if the world is "sanitized" for him. By five this kid should be already carrying the meds for this. Is this mother going to force this issue for the rest of his life?

I agree TOTALLY. A child eating a PB&J sandwich is not going to affect a child allergic to peanuts, unless that child takes a bite out of the sandwich. If it was a latex allergy, I'd say that stringent precautions would be more necessary (if the latex is in dust, it can spread via the air, and still cause an anaphylactic reaction in a person predisposed to it).

It's all about training the allergic child to avoid peanuts and making sure the child has an Epi Pen readily available.

[Paved Paradise]

I do not know the actual numbers; however, I first heard of this problem in the early 1980's so it has been around for some time. The latest I read about this allergy is that it is no the rise and I'm not sure why though many theories abound. I have my own though, as it is not just peanut allergies on the increase; all sorts of immunological problems are in the increase (and remember, allergies are related to the immune system). We are seeing ever more cases of things like Lupus, MS, and other systemic diseases that have to do with the body's immunological responses breaking down. Allergies are on the low end of the spectrum. I read a book a few years back on a physician who diagnosed himself with basic hay fever type allergies (back in the early part of the 1900's and he was trying to do research and couldn't even find a handful of people who had the symptoms. Walk into any room of people today and ask how many have allergies and I bet you'd have 75 percent or better!

[5by5]

The problem is that all it takes is for another child to have a trace of PB on his hands or clothes or even backpack and touch the one with the allergies.

It really can be that severe.

The good news is that a new anti allergy treatment called anti-IgE has the potential to greatly reduce the severity of such reactions. It's expensive, $5-10K/year, but could be a life-saver for these children. So far, Anti-IgE has been approved for use with those above the age of 12 with moderate-severe uncontrolled asthma. My understanding is that the trials are underway to extend it's use to younger children with severe peanut allergies.

[Dianna]

Why stop there? Do you want to kill all bees? I know some people that have terrible reactions to strawberries -- get rid of those, too? Why one group and not another?

Getting rid of all bees and strawberries is NOT the same thing as banning peanuts from school...but I bet you knew that.

A child deathly allergic to bees would certainly warrant making sure someone regularly came in to mow the lawn, prevent clover spreading, etc.

In kindergarten this year, my son has one classmate allergic to peanuts and another who has cancer and is going through chemo. The law states that ALL children MUST have access to a free and appropriate public education. If you want to get that law repealed you'd be better off finding some little behavior disordered psychopath who is scaring everyone to death as your cause.

[Paved Paradise]

You might want to get your facts straight before you mislead someone.

[just mimi]

What would be your number to inconvenience to save the life of one child.

I guess the mom is the one to ask this question to. Why is she risking her son's life every day? Isn't his life dear enough to her for her to keep him safe at such a young age? I can think of many ways that this child could come into contact with peanut residue or peanut oil, despite all the precautions. If his allergy is this severe, he needs to be kept home. What am I missing here?

[Eva]

The problem is that the reaction is seldom as severe or as reactive as predicted. I know because I have been there and done that. I was told not to be in the same room and definitely not to touch the allegen in my case, I have unavoidably done so and not had any reaction whatsoever.

[freedox]

I haven't seen any evidence of others not caring about this kid's plight. What I have seen are a number of reasonable responses that focus on having this kid take some responsibility for his own safety. As I see it, this kid is only being handicapped further by the efforts of his parents and the school officials. He is not learning the survival skills that will be necessary for him to live a long life.....rather, he is learning to behave as if the world were a completely safe place for him. He will not be able to go through life touching public surfaces and accepting snacks offered by others......why is he being taught that these behaviors are safe for him?

I liked the suggestion that someone offered above......have the kid wear protective gloves if touching surfaces is a danger. Teach him to automatically say no to any food of unknown origin. These are the survival skills that this kid needs to be learning. IMO, the false sense of security that he is being afforded now represents an incredible danger to his longterm safety.

[justshe]

Unfortunately.....the gluten allergy doesn't go away....ever. One has to totally eliminate gluten in all foods for the remainder of their life. Heck...even sticks of chewing gums have been 'dusted' with a gluten-containing substance so they won't stick to their wrappers. It is a huge learning curve (ever try to find foods without 'modified food starch'?) but it CAN be done.

Luckily....for most, it is VERY doable...and you can avoid "allergic" reactions. The reaction itself is difficult to manage....but long-term, can do MAJOR (life threatening) systemic damage if you don't manage it. The official term for the condition is Celiac.

It sounds like the peanut allergy is much more immediate...and I agree, the products of today are NOT the products of 40 years ago.

[EggsAckley]

Hi Flurry,
Here's a family anecdote that may help out. My brother was born in 1942, and was immediately allergic to EVERYTHING, even Mom's milk. After thousands of tests, it was discovered that there were two foods he was NOT allergic to, bananas and goat's milk. Being as it was during the war, both of those commodities were very difficult to procure in the large amounts needed. A lovely Greek grocer friend of my folks made SURE they had what they needed. It literally saved my brother's young life. He outgrew the allergies at about age three, just about the time I came along.

The point here is that severe allergies are NOT just a new thing.

Cheers!!

[gridlock]

I'm gonna pull a Lazamataz and not read the other comments...

What is the matter with these parents? Why can't the school just send a "no peanuts" letter home, and have the parents abide by the policy? What kind of idiot parent is going to send their kid into school with PB&J after getting such a letter?

My daughter's school sent home a "no peanuts" letter, when they did not even have an allergic student! This was a little excessive, IMHO, but the universal (and proper) reaction was "OK". The day I volunteer to take responsibility for a couple hundred other people's children an a daily basis is the day I start making policy on school lunch contents.

[MEGoody]

"No, let's put YOU there."

I'm not the one claiming that those who think the child should be homeschooled or learn to live in the real world want the kid dead. That's you. It's a ridiculous comment, and you know it.

[MEGoody]

"What kind of idiot parent is going to send their kid into school with PB&J after getting such a letter?"

If the child's allergy is severe enough, even this isn't enough protection. Someone eating cookies in a factory which also manufacturers products using peanuts can put the kid into crisis. A friend who eats peanut butter for breakfast, then kisses her friend on the cheek or touches her faces while whispering in her ear can put the child at risk.

If the allergy is that severe, the child should be home schooled.