If one is not allergic to substances, then you probably don’t pay much attention to food allergies. The parents and children in one Florida classroom are paying a lot of attention to the subject of food allergies because of the severe allergic reaction one child has to peanuts. In the article, Peanut Allergy Stirs Controversy At Florida Schools Reuters reports:
Some public school parents in Edgewater, Florida, want a first-grade girl with life-threatening peanut allergies removed from the classroom and home-schooled, rather than deal with special rules to protect her health, a school official said.
“That was one of the suggestions that kept coming forward from parents, to have her home-schooled. But we’re required by federal law to provide accommodations. That’s just not even an option for us,” said Nancy Wait, spokeswoman for the Volusia County School District.
Wait said the 6-year-old’s peanut allergy is so severe it is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To protect the girl, students in her class at Edgewater Elementary School are required to wash their hands before entering the classroom in the morning and after lunch, and rinse out their mouths, Wait said, and a peanut-sniffing dog checked out the school during last week’s spring break….
Chris Burr, a father of two older students at the school whose wife has protested at the campus, said a lot of small accommodations have added up to frustration for many parents.
“If I had a daughter who had a problem, I would not ask everyone else to change….
The Spokesman-Review of Spokane reported on the death of a child from a severe reaction to peanuts. See, New peanut butter Cheerios triggers anger from parents http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/new-peanut-butter-cheerios-triggers-anger-from-parents/2012/01/09/gIQAqm0rlP_blog.html?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
In the 2001 article, Privacy vs. Right to Know Virginia De Leon reports about the death of a Spokane boy. The Center for Health Care in Schools describes the death and the subsequent litigation in the article, A Look Back At An Allergic Child’s Death
Laura Hibbard is reporting the story, Ammaria Johnson, First Grader, Dies After Alleged Allergic Reaction At School at Huffington Post:
Ammaria Johnson, 7, died Monday at Virginia’s Hopkins Elementary School from an alleged allergic reaction to peanuts after breaking out in hives and experiencing shortness of breath — sparking wide discussion on schools’ ability to handle severe allergic reactions in children, CNN reports.
Johnson was in cardiac arrest by the time emergency crews arrived at the school around 2:30pm, WTVR TV reports, and she was pronounced dead “a short time later” at the CJW Medical center.
The first-grader’s mother, Laura Pendleton, told the station that she doesn’t understand the school’s actions.
“She has an allergy action plan at the school,” Pendleton told WTVR TV, saying she authorized the school to give the student Benadryl during a reaction. “They didn’t do that.”
Pendleton went on to tell the station that at the beginning of the year, she had tried to give the school clinical aid and EpiPen for reactions, but was told to keep it at home. EpiPens inject epinephrine, or adrenaline, currently available only by prescription.
According to a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, investigators are waiting for a report by the State Medical Examiner’s Office on the cause of Johnson’s death, but Chesterfield schools spokesman Shawn Smith told the paper the girl died of a “pre-existing medical condition.”
Since severe allergies can develop without previous incidences, Dr. Dan Atkins, head of ambulatory pediatric at National Jewish Health in Denver, told ABC News that stocking EpiPens in schools might be a good idea. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/07/ammaria-johnson-first-grader-allegedly-dies-from-allergy-at-school_n_1191368.html?ref=email_share
A physical examination is important for children to make sure that there are no health problems. The University of Arizona Department of Pediatrics has an excellent article which describes Pediatric History and Physical Examination The article goes on to describe how the physical examination is conducted and what observations and tests are part of the examination. The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital describes the Process of the Physical Examination
If children have allergies, parents must work with their schools to prepare a allergy health plan.
Resources:
Micheal Borella’s Chicago-Kent Law Review article, Food Allergies In Public Schools: Toward A Model Code
USDA’s Accomodating Children With Special Dietary Needs
Child and Teen Checkup Fact Sheet
Video: What to Expect From A Child’s Physical Exam
Dr. Wilda says this about that ©
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