Our schools need emergency access to stock epinephrine for the 38 reasons discovered in the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. Last week a very important study, “Emergency Epinephrine Use for Food Allergy Reactions in Chicago Public Schools” was released by Northwestern University with some startling facts (okay, startling to me)regarding the 2012/13 school year. This study is BIG NEWS. When we advocate and ask our government and private donors to help us fund a cure we need some good hard facts to prove our point. This is why we need research like this! We can’t find a cure until we have enough research to show our need. Northwestern University and Dr. Ruchi Gupta along with other fabulous researchers are making a difference in their work to analyze and review the efficacy of stock epinephrine in the school setting.
- More than half of the students (55% )given epinephrine did not have a known allergy or history (insert my eye popping look–if you recall on the Food Allergy Research and Education Facts and Statistics document, “Approximately 20-25% of epinephrine administrations in schools involve individuals whose allergy was unknown at the time of the reaction”, per a 2005 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics. This document is my go to facts and stats “bible” that I use when I am vetting out the life threatening food allergies and the need for management of this invisible disease. Looks like I will need to review the new study and revise my talking points!
- Twenty one of the cases involved had a known allergy-this point has me asking more questions: did the student have their own prescription of epinephrine at the school? If not, what were the reasons? Cost prohibited? Lack of knowledge? The study also noted that” many were administered in neighborhoods with low rates of food allergy documentation. This underscores the importance of undesignated EAI access in all schools”.
- Majority of the students were elementary aged. This was no surprise to me-but this does highlight the need to address NO FOOD ALLOWED IN CLASSROOMS.
- Most common reaction was to peanut followed by fin fish. This fact surprised me as I expected to see shellfish and tree nuts topping the list and I was curious to see if peanut was the number cause of reactions. There is so much conversation right now about peanut only effecting a small part of the population but I guess it packs a bigger punch than some thought. The study discussed, ” Peanut, the allergen impacting nearly 25% of all food allergic children,1 led to more than 18% of the undesignated EAI administrations reported here”.
- The trigger for more than one third of the reactions was unknown. This fact leaves me asking if cross contact and inadvertent mucous contact (ingestion is one route to bringing an allergen into the body, but other orifices can do the job too–think nose-eyes-ears) caused these reactions!
- Over seven percent of epinephrine given were to staff. Let’s not forget about protecting adults developing adult onset food allergies or ones that have not received good diagnosis.
For me, this information shows the grave need for more research regarding access to diagnosis and life saving epinephrine in at risk and low income areas, deeper understanding of the management of peanut allergens in the school setting and the value of also including staff or other adults being given access to emergency in policy and legislation.
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..