Peanut Allergy
Posted: March 26th, 2020
Peanut
Allergy
Name:
Institution:
Peanut
Allergy
Peanuts
allergies are a type of food allergy that is caused by ingesting peanuts. The origin
of the allergies remains unclear. These allergies are more common in young
children and toddlers. The most common symptoms of the allergy are nausea,
diarrhea, vomiting, stomach and abdominal pain, general body edema, eczema, a
steep drop in the blood pressure, and heart attacks (Young,
2013). In some cases, anaphylaxis occurs, which is potentially fatal.
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction caused by various allergens. It
symptoms include shock, blockage of the airwaves, which can cause suffocation
and death (Castells, 2011). Therefore, peanut
allergies are sometimes fatal and should be treated with the importance they
deserve.
As an early child educator, it is
my duty to ensure Molly; the newcomer is properly taken care of, especially
considering the fact that she is allergic to peanuts. In order to accommodate
her, the other children have to be prepared adequately to make sure that Molly
enjoys a comfortable environment in class. The following are the measures that
I will take to this effect:
- Educate the children on the basics of peanut
allergies. They may not understand the technicalities about the allergies,
but it is important for them to understand what they are and what causes
them. This will prevent instances where a fellow child obliviously shares
food items that may contain peanut traces. Such an episode could be fatal
and it is important to avoid it altogether by sensitizing the children on
the dangers of peanut allergies
- In addition to sensitizing the children on the
facts about the allergies, it is also important to teach them how to
respond and alert me as their teacher incase Molly is experiencing a
reaction. Practically, it is difficult for the children to perform any
first aid to Molly during an episode. Therefore, the best approach would
be encouraging them to notify me immediately, when they see her developing
symptoms. I should teach them how to identify the allergy symptoms such as
itchiness, labored breathing, sweating, vomiting, and edema. To help them
understand this better, it is advisable for me to hang pictures
illustrating the physical appearance of these symptoms on the classroom wall.
This will definitely be effective because visually recognizing the
symptoms will be easy for the children.
- A different way to ensure Molly avoids foods with
peanuts is to instruct the children not to share any foods with her. This
is because more often than not, some foods and snacks may contain traces
of peanuts. In most cases, he smallest amounts of peanuts traces can
trigger a fatal reaction. Therefore, to avoid this, it is imperative the
Molly only east the snacks brought from home. The children will need
supervision during snack time to make sure none of them offers their
snacks to her.
- Guarantee that the class cabinet contains an epinephrine
auto injector in case of an attack. However, this does not mean that the
drug in the classroom should be accessible to the small children. Drugs
should be kept away from children at all costs. Therefore, the cabinet
should be under lock and key and should only be opened in case of an
episode. The epinephrine is an antihistamine that is used when an
individual experiences a severe allergic reaction. It is useful in
reducing the effects of the reaction, however, in some cases; the patient
may still need to visit the emergency room for further treatment.
References
Castells, M.
(2011). Anaphylaxis and hypersensitivity reactions. New York: Humana Press.
Young, M.
(2013). Peanut Allergy Answer Book. Osceola: Fair Winds Press.