BACKGROUND: Peanut allergy accounts for most severe food-related allergic reactions, and accidental exposures are frequent. Delayed administration of epinephrine and the allergic individual's failure to personally carry epinephrine contribute to fatal outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To describe epinephrine autoinjector availability at school and to determine factors that might affect autoinjector availability in children allergic to peanut. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-one children with peanut allergy living in Quebec were queried about their autoinjector. Logistic regression models were used to select factors associated with device availability. RESULTS: Four of 271 children diagnosed as having peanut allergy were not prescribed autoinjectors. Forty-eight percent of the children did not carry the autoinjector with them at school. In 78.0% of those, the autoinjector was located in the nurse's or another school office, which was staffed by a full-time nurse only in 18.5%. Of all the respondents, those administered epinephrine for a previous reaction (odds ratio [OR], 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-5.7), older children (OR, 1.1; 95% CI, 1.0-1.2), and those living only with their mother (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.0-11.0) were more likely to carry the autoinjector with them at school. Of children 7 years or older, those who experienced a severe reaction were more likely to carry their autoinjector (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4-8.1). CONCLUSIONS: Almost 50% of children allergic to peanut might experience a delay in anaphylaxis treatment due to limited access to their device. More education is required regarding the importance of a readily available autoinjector.
BACKGROUND:Peanutallergy accounts for most severe food-related allergic reactions, and accidental exposures are frequent. Delayed administration of epinephrine and the allergic individual's failure to personally carry epinephrine contribute to fatal outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To describe epinephrine autoinjector availability at school and to determine factors that might affect autoinjector availability in children allergic to peanut. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-one children with peanutallergy living in Quebec were queried about their autoinjector. Logistic regression models were used to select factors associated with device availability. RESULTS: Four of 271 children diagnosed as having peanutallergy were not prescribed autoinjectors. Forty-eight percent of the children did not carry the autoinjector with them at school. In 78.0% of those, the autoinjector was located in the nurse's or another school office, which was staffed by a full-time nurse only in 18.5%. Of all the respondents, those administered epinephrine for a previous reaction (odds ratio [OR], 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-5.7), older children (OR, 1.1; 95% CI, 1.0-1.2), and those living only with their mother (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.0-11.0) were more likely to carry the autoinjector with them at school. Of children 7 years or older, those who experienced a severe reaction were more likely to carry their autoinjector (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.4-8.1). CONCLUSIONS: Almost 50% of children allergic to peanut might experience a delay in anaphylaxis treatment due to limited access to their device. More education is required regarding the importance of a readily available autoinjector.
Authors: Joshua A Boyce; Amal Assa'ad; A Wesley Burks; Stacie M Jones; Hugh A Sampson; Robert A Wood; Marshall Plaut; Susan F Cooper; Matthew J Fenton; S Hasan Arshad; Sami L Bahna; Lisa A Beck; Carol Byrd-Bredbenner; Carlos A Camargo; Lawrence Eichenfield; Glenn T Furuta; Jon M Hanifin; Carol Jones; Monica Kraft; Bruce D Levy; Phil Lieberman; Stefano Luccioli; Kathleen M McCall; Lynda C Schneider; Ronald A Simon; F Estelle R Simons; Stephen J Teach; Barbara P Yawn; Julie M Schwaninger Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Date: 2010-12 Impact factor: 10.793
Authors: F Estelle R Simons; Ledit R F Ardusso; M Beatrice Bilò; Yehia M El-Gamal; Dennis K Ledford; Johannes Ring; Mario Sanchez-Borges; Gian Enrico Senna; Aziz Sheikh; Bernard Y Thong Journal: World Allergy Organ J Date: 2011-02-23 Impact factor: 4.084
Authors: Sara J Brown; Yuka Asai; Heather J Cordell; Linda E Campbell; Yiwei Zhao; Haihui Liao; Kate Northstone; John Henderson; Reza Alizadehfar; Moshe Ben-Shoshan; Kenneth Morgan; Graham Roberts; Laury J N Masthoff; Suzanne G M A Pasmans; Peter C van den Akker; Cisca Wijmenga; Jonathan O'B Hourihane; Colin N A Palmer; Gideon Lack; Ann Clarke; Peter R Hull; Alan D Irvine; W H Irwin McLean Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Date: 2011-03 Impact factor: 10.793