Hold the PB & J Peanut Allergies on the Rise in Texas

Food allergies in children have increased significantly in the past decade in the U.S. In Texas, children under 5 years old have the highest risk of being hospitalized for peanut anaphylaxis a severe and often life-threatening, immediate allergic reaction.

Eight foods account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. They are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. Some of these allergens may be outgrown, but others, such as peanuts and shellfish, will remain lifelong allergies.

Asthma and Allergies

Zuber Mulla, Ph.D., associate professor and director of epidemiologic research in the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, recently conducted a population-based study of peanut anaphylaxis in Texas children and young adults.

“Hospitalizations of Children and Young Adults from Peanut-Induced Anaphylaxis in Texas,” was published in the May 2011 Southern Medical Journal.

Mulla found a total of 34 children and adolescents under the age of 25 years who were discharged throughout Texas between 2004 and 2007 with a principal or secondary discharge diagnosis of peanut anaphylaxis. Within this group of 34 patients, individuals with asthma fared worse than the non-asthmatics.

Peanuts can trigger a severe reaction, according to the Mayo Clinic. The severity of a reaction depends on how sensitive an individual is and the quantity consumed. Symptoms of peanut anaphylaxis may include hives, tightening of the chest and shortness of breath.

Advice for Parents

Ines Anchondo, Dr.P.H., a pediatric nutritionist at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, said parents need to be extra careful with young children who have a peanut allergies.

“Because these young children are at such a high risk of anaphylaxis if they come into contact with any form of peanut, I have recommended to parents to actually volunteer to be at school in their child’s classroom to monitor what they are eating,” Anchondo said.

A second peak in the risk of being hospitalized for peanut anaphylaxis was found in teens between the ages of 15 and 19 years. Mulla suggests that this second peak might be because of an increase in teenage risk taking, loss of adult supervision to help monitor the foods they eat, or the failure to carry an epinephrine auto-injector. An epinephrine auto-injector, sometimes called an Epipen, is an emergency medication that acts quickly to treat serious allergic reactions.

Parents of children who are allergic to peanuts should teach their children never to assume a food doesn't contain peanuts, and to just say no to foods they aren't sure are 100 percent peanut free, according to the Mayo Clinic. Foods that often contain peanuts include baked goods, ice cream, cereals and granola and grain breads.