Published Wednesday, May 5, 2021 7:58AM EDT New guidelines aimed at helping schools and daycares protect children with allergies say there s no evidence that blanket bans on specific foods protect children. The guidelines, created by an international panel of stakeholders including health-care experts, school principals, parents and professional allergy organizations, also recommend that schools keep a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors. The guidelines, based on a review of the scientific evidence and published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology on Wednesday, are the first of their kind, said Dr. Susan Waserman, the chair of the guidelines panel and a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
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Hamilton, ON (May 5, 2021) - Schools and child care centres should train staff on food allergies and have epinephrine available to treat anaphylaxis, but new guidelines do not recommend food bans.
The recommendations come from an international team, led by McMaster University, which has developed practice guidelines for the prevention and management of allergic reactions to food at child care centres and schools. The guidelines were published today in the
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The management of food allergy is a sensitive topic, said Susan Waserman, chair of the guidelines panel, an allergist and professor of medicine at McMaster University.
Jacob Serebrin
In this July 8, 2016, file photo, a pharmacist holds a package of EpiPens epinephrine auto-injector, a Mylan product, in Sacramento, Calif. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Rich Pedroncelli May 05, 2021 - 4:30 AM
New guidelines aimed at helping schools and daycares protect children with allergies say there s no evidence that blanket bans on specific foods protect children.
The guidelines, created by an international panel of stakeholders including health-care experts, school principals, parents and professional allergy organizations, also recommend that schools keep a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors.
The guidelines, based on a review of the scientific evidence and published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology on Wednesday, are the first of their kind, said Dr. Susan Waserman, the chair of the guidelines panel and a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
Posted: Wednesday, May 5, 2021 12:55
Allergic reactions to food can be dangerous and even cause death, and an international team led by a Canadian university has developed new guidelines to prevent and manage such reactions in schools and child care centres.
From one to 10 per cent of infants and preschool children have a food allergy as do one to 2.5 per cent of children of school age. Researchers say that about one in ten allergic reactions and the life threatening extreme reaction called anaphylaxis occur at child care centres or schools. Most occur elsewhere.
Anxiety and fear may limit children
“Anxiety and fear about the risk of accidental exposure to food allergens, and the burden of managing that risk, may limit children’s participation in day-to-day activities. Children with food allergy are also at risk of allergy-related bullying,” note the guidelines.