Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Erin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:39:27 GMT

Why is it that the number of peanut-allergy related deaths is increasing? You never heard about this 30 years ago... Or even when my kids were in grade school there were no anti-peanut lobbies working at the schools.

I think it's a tragedy that kids today can't take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Carol — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:17:08 GMT

Yeah, well it ends up sounding pretty insensitive when you suggest that life threatening food allergies are nothing more than an "urban myth."

I know first hand that they are VERY real. My 4 year old son nearly died of anaphylaxis when he was 2 from eating (and very promptly throwing up)one pistachio. We had no idea what was going on and thought he was choking. We rushed him to the ER because of all the violent vomiting. While he was being examined in the ER, he suddenly passed out and stopped breathing. It took 5 ER personnel to revive him. The only reason he is alive today is that this happened while he was sitting right in front of an ER doctor. If it had happened in our home or in a restaurant or anywhere else, he would be dead right now. He had another near-fatal reaction to eggs when a restaurant served him ice cream with eggs in it at age 3. Deadly food allergies are real. They are NOT an urban legend. So yeah, your post sounds pretty insensitive to a mom like me.

A recent study estimates that there are 50,000 emergency room visits per year due to anaphylaxis -- up from the previous estimate of 30,000 visits per year. That's a lot of close calls, regardless of the actual number of deaths. While I don't know the actual number of deaths, I highly doubt Ms. Broussard's statement that it was 11. I also highly doubt that she herself suffers from serious food allergies as she claims. Maybe she just gets a little tummy ache and wonders what all the fuss is about.

Life threatening food allergies are considered to be "disabilities" under the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar federal and state laws dealing with education. That is why many daycares and schools make "reasonable accomodations" to protect kids with food allergies. For very small kids -- under the age of 5 or 6 -- that may mean outright bans on certain high-risk foods. It only takes a tiny amount of nut protein to kill an allergic child. Kids that young are not yet able to protect themselves or resist a well-meaning friend's offer of a cookie or other treat. As kids get older, they take on more responsibility for protecting themselves and fewer accomodations need to be made by the schools.

I don't know why your daycare bans nut products if there are no kids with known allergies who need the "accomodation" of a nut ban. It may be that they realize that many children with these allergies have not yet been diagnosed at that age and they'd rather not take the risk.

It is easy to be cavalier about this when your own child does not suffer from it. If you saw a child having an episode of anaphylaxis -- especially a child you love -- I'm sure it would not seem so amusing to you. If you would like to learn a little bit more -- and hear from some parents whose children died from food allergies, you can watch a short video on youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:49:58 GMT

Yeah, I didn't mean to sound insensitive toward people dealing with serious allergies in their families. I think the larger point remains important, though: to what extent does society at large need to remake itself to avoid even potential harm to a very tiny number of people? My son's daycare center is officially nut-free -- not just peanuts, but even things like pine nuts (no pesto!) -- despite their being, so far as we know, no child with any kind of food allergy attending the center. From what I gather, this is not at all unusual. My worry isn't just that it's an inconvenience, but rather that it seems to be the result of a kind of magical thinking about danger and safety -- ban nuts, and everything will be fine -- that may distract us from more useful discussions of those important topics. Hope that makes some sense.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Shannon LC Cate — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:07:11 GMT

I have a lot of food allergies that cause anaphylaxis. Peanuts are, oddly, one of the few things I am NOT allergic to. But my daughter's pal is, and has been to the ER twice and had epipen injections a half-dozen times in her 4 years. For her alone, I have a completely peanut-free home.

I agree the death statistic is a useless way to measure the real impact of this in people's lives.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Effective Nancy — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:26:20 GMT

I'm 35, have had a known anaphylactic allergy to tree nuts since I was about 3, and I've been to the ER at least 20 times for eating foods that I was given--EACH TIME--after explaining clearly and carefully that I was allergic to all tree nuts, could the ingredients be checked, I'm happy to eat something else if need be or will gladly go without, etc. Oh wait, no, once my own MOTHER fed me banana bread with walnuts in the mix's second-to-last ingredient. But you get the gist. Once I went to the hospital from reacting to someone's sick idea of a joke: handing me a pistachio while I was looking elsewhere. And this is as an adult, only seven years ago.

Anaphylaxis has, among its symptoms, the highly mockable "feeling of impending doom." This is not made up. Suffering an anaphylactic reaction is terrifying, not least because your body knows it's dying. When I found out that one of my kid's playmates was similarly allergic to dairy and eggs, I specifically got a vegan cake for my daughter's first birthday so that this playmate would be safe. I'd never knowingly subject anyone to this horror.

The people who claim to be allergic to an ingredient when they're just not a big fan of, say, olives, are really undermining the credibility of those of us for whom this is a life and death situation. I pray every day that my daughter has no food allergies. Food should be enjoyed, not feared.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Bunny — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:42:03 GMT

What I find more interesting is: why do kids seem to have so many more, and more severe, allergies these days, and is it something in the air, the water, their toys, plastics? Is it linked to the increase in autism?

Scary stuff.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

MomofBeans — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:36:29 GMT

My daughter is severely allergic to peanuts, soy, dairy, and eggs. I catch a lot of flak from other people because I'm so careful about what she eats and a lot of parents seem to think we are just pretentious and paranoid. When you see your kid start vomiting like the girl in the Exorcist because she ate a cracker with milk in it, you start taking things seriously.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Knitty — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:47:10 GMT

"My guess is that this kind of fear -- essentially groundless, sourceless yet pervasive, trivial yet all-consuming -- flourishes during economic good times and recedes when things are grim."

Oh, THIS. While I'm sure that there are people with deadly allergies to peanuts, shellfish, etc., I also know plenty of mothers who used to insist that their kids can ONLY eat organic, fresh-from-the-farm, blah blah blah. As times have gotten harder, those conversations have vanished from my mom's group. As of late, it's acceptable to just feed your little ones FOOD, and be grateful for it.

And gpgirl, I totally agree about the NY Times Well blog.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

LauraLaura — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:09:44 GMT

My husband has come near death several times from peanuts and tree nuts, usually offered to him in foods that teachers or restaurants assured him were nut-free. And a good friend died of a peanut allergy. These are anecdotal examples, true, but the allergy is real. And potentially fatal.

There's a real debate to be had, of course, about how much society needs to accommodate people like my husband (and my dead friend). But the allergy is not a hysterical urban myth.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

gpgirl — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:04:59 GMT

First, I'd like to mention that the NY Times Well blog is one of the worst, least-scientifically based blogs I have ever read. They also usually promote mass-hysteria, so I find it ridiculous that they would write a column decrying mass-hysteria.

I don't have peanut allergies in my family, so I cannot really comment otherwise. The only real question I think we, as a society, should ask is - are we spending so much time worrying about this that we are missing something that is more likely to harm children? (I won't even pretend to know the answer on this one.)

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

melissa — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:51:59 GMT

it is nice to have peanut-free areas. my daughter's reaction is only eczema but another kid at her school would be hospital-bound if he came in contact with peanut products. FYI - Peanuts are different from "nuts" and just because a kid is allergic to peanuts does not mean they are allergic to other nuts. my daughter can have almonds and walnuts fine, but also reacts to pistachios. that other kid at her school is fine with all other nuts. Also, peanut allergy is the one allergy that is usually not outgrown. Years ago, someone at my husband's work died at the Christmas party because she ate something with peanuts in it.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

missy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:39:26 GMT

I agree with the others, it's really skewed to suggest [unwarranted] hysteria based on the low number of deaths. Instead, the low number of deaths suggests that peanut-free advocacy is effective, not unwarranted.

No one in my family has a peanut allergy. My kids love peanut butter and it's inconvenient that I have to scrupulously make sure there is no remnant left on them before they leave for school. However, it is completely worth it if it saves a life or prevents a life threatening allergic reaction.

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Marsh'sMom — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:22:13 GMT

Is the number of deaths really the only statistic to look at? How about the number of children rushed to the ER with a severe reaction, number of epi-pen injections administered, etc.? Maybe there were "only" 11 deaths because awareness has been raised and peanut free tables are provided and epi-pens are available. Just because the child is saved and doesn't die from their reaction doesn't mean it's not a major issue. Is it worth it for a child to be able to take a PB&J to school if it means putting someone else's child at risk to swell up and not be able to breath for a while, even if they can be saved with an epipen? I mean, it didn't kill them, right?

re: Death By Peanut: Epidemic or Urban Myth?

Meg — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:14:28 GMT

I'm one of the first peanut allergy kids, I'm 31. Their stats may be way off, but I know that if I come into contact with peanuts I break out in hives and ingesting them will cause me to stop breathing (I always keep an epi pen on me). The only reason I'm alive today is because the first time I was given peanut butter (I was around 2) my step father who was a doctor was home. It's a scary thing for a kid to have, trust me.