Peanut Allergy

Posted: March 26th, 2020

Peanut Allergy

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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.