Peanut Allergy? Have Access to Epi Pen
Does your child have a peanut allergy? Don't let them be among the half of kids who do but who don't have access to life-saving epinephrin injection treatment at all times. Canadian researchers say that a survey of 271 Quebec school kids with confirmed peanut allergies revealed 48 percent didn't carry an epinephrin auto injector, or Epi-Pen, with them. Three out of four o these kids kept it instead in the school nurses' office, but only one in five of these offices were staffed with a full-time nurse. Kids with these allergies should get an epinephrin injection within 10 minutes of the onset of a severe allergic reaction, or anaphylaxis. In the US, 35 states allow peanut-allergic students to carry an Epi-Pen at school. The study appears in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, June 2008.