| Literature DB >> 34152649 |
Aideen M Byrne1,2, Juan Trujillo3, John Fitzsimons1, Tariq Mohammed4, Robert Ghent1, Cathryn O'Carroll1,5, David Coghlan1,2, Jonathan O'B Hourihane1,6, Ali Alsalemi1, Aoife Cassidy1, Eva Corbet1, Rita Creighton1, Yvonne d'Art3, Linda Farren1, Rachel Flanagan1, Niamh Flynn1, Ruth Franklin1,6, Claire Gray1, Paul Harding1, Ciara Hendrick1, Fionnuala Heraghty1, Sadhbh Hurley1,6, Valerie Kavanagh1, Dhanis Lad3, Karen Leddy1, Sarah Lewis1, Triona McGlynn1, Danielle O'Connor1, Phil O'Neill7, Orla O'Shea1, Ann O'Toole1, Rachel Quinn1, Aisling Reid1, Alison Russell4, Emma Ruth1, Anne Rynne1, P Bhusan Sanneerappa1, Mairead Sheehan1, Claire Thompson1, Ciara Tobin3, James Trayer1, Alison Wallace1, Nicola Walsh1, Fiona Wilson1.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Internationally, the COVID-19 pandemic severely curtailed access to hospital facilities for those awaiting elective/semi-elective procedures. For allergic children in Ireland, already waiting up to 4 years for an elective oral food challenge (OFC), the restrictions signified indefinite delay. At the time of the initiative, there were approx 900 children on the Children's Health Ireland (CHI) waiting list. In July 2020, a project was facilitated by short-term (6 weeks) access to an empty COVID stepdown facility built, in a hotel conference centre, commandeered by the Health Service Executive (HSE), Ireland. The aim of this study was to achieve the rapid roll-out of an offsite OFC service, delivering high throughput of long waiting patients, while aligning with existing hospital policies and quality standards, international allergy guidelines and national social distancing standards.Entities:
Keywords: COVID-19; food allergy; food challenge; healthcare delivery
Mesh:
Substances:
Year: 2021 PMID: 34152649 PMCID: PMC8420236 DOI: 10.1111/pai.13580
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Pediatr Allergy Immunol ISSN: 0905-6157 Impact factor: 5.464
FIGURE 1Flow diagram of oral food challenge outcomes
Oral food challenges performed by food type and outcome
| No. of OFC performed (not completed) | Percentage of total OFC performed | No. of +ve OFC (% of completed OFC) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peanut | 161 (3) | 34% | 61 (39) |
| Tree nut | 196 (4) | 41.35% | 40 (21) |
| Sesame | 39 (1) | 8.23% | 21 (55) |
| Fish | 14 (1) | 3% | 0 (0) |
| Shellfish | 8 | 1.7% | 1 (12.5) |
| Kiwi | 4 | 0.8% | 1 (25) |
| Wheat | 5 | 1% | 4 (80) |
| Milk or baked milk | 12 | 2.5% | 2 (17) |
| Egg or baked egg | 27 | 5.7% | 3 (11) |
| Pulses | 4 | 0.8% | 1 (25) |
| Other | 4 | 0.8% | 1 (25) |
| Total | 474(9) | 135 (29) |
Organizational lessons learned from the food challenge initiative
| Things we need to ‘drop or stop’ | Things we need to ‘grow’ or pick up again | |
|---|---|---|
|
Things we started in the initiative |
Anaesthesiologists on site The ‘2 adrenaline injections=admission’ rule Starting too many challenges simultaneously Patients from multiple hospital sites on the same day |
Use of multi‐patient pods/rooms Use of general nurses in OFC Prefilled prescription charts Huddles and well‐being/team support exercises Medical students as essential workers Food challenge admin/coordinator role Dedicated professional food preparation Empowering parents to administer food challenge doses instead of nurses |
|
Things we stopped in the initiative |
1:1 specialist nurse:patient ratio for OFC Food challenge protocol variation across partner sites First dose of challenge (10mg protein) |
Routine clinics Other professional activities |