Severe allergy risk worse among teens, young adults

An 18-year-old student died in mid-September after a severe allergic reaction, again raising the issue of how best to prevent this rare but awful occurrence. Andrea Mariano was allergic to peanut and dairy and was attending Queen’s University when she died from what is called anaphylaxis.

‘They…think they are invincible’

Fatalities from these severe allergic reactions are decreasing as awareness and diagnosis grows. But allergists say when they do occur it is often among teen and young adults. “They do start to think they are invincible, especially if they’ve never had, or don’t remember having a serious reaction,” says Dr. Adelle Atkinson, clinical immunologist and allergist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

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“They feel perhaps quite comfortable and falsely believe that it’ll all be fine, because people around them have always monitored this for them. They also don’t want to feel different…by having an Epipen or some sort of auto injector sticking out of their pockets,” she adds. Even though that rescue medication can save their lives, many young people fail to carry it everywhere with them.

Start young, says doctor

Atkinson suggests parents begin to have conversations about allergies with their children from an early age, not to scare them, but to normalize management of the allergy.

Let teens make choices and plans, says doctor

As children get older, parents can slowly begin to transfer responsibility to them by asking them to make decisions, for example about what kind of auto injector they want and how best to carry it. They can also be asked what kind of plan they have for eating out or parties, and if they want to choose a friend to look out for them in such situations.

It can be difficult for parents when children go off to school or university, carefully preparing their children can alleviate some of the worry that plagues parents of children with anaphylaxis.