Grilled-cheese sandwich suspected in young boy’s death

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by luckyram

I read this somewhere else and it comes to mind:

"When you have a rare condition, it isn't up to the world to adapt to you - it's up to you to adapt to the world. The sooner the parents of a severely allergic child - and, more importantly, the child - learn this, the better off they'll be."

But it's not that rare. And it's becoming even less so. "Researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies, including 5.9 million children under age 18. That’s 1 in 13 children, or roughly two in every classroom. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reports that the prevalence of food allergy in children increased by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. Between 1997 and 2008, the prevalence of peanut or tree nut allergy appears to have more than tripled in U.S. children."

It is also the law that every child is entitled to a free public education, and accommodations need to be made for any medical issues. Don't like the law, write your representatives.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by ClaraC

This is a grey area. According to media, this child wasn't actually in the HeadStart program, in later articles referred to as the EarlyStart program. It's really hard to tell what the status of this child was when he encountered the cheese sandwich. An uncle stated he had just joined there - whether that meant that exact day or not, I don't know.

In Texas, HeadStart won't allow a 3 year old who isn't reliably potty trained into the program (sorry, I've stated this a lot in this thread, don't want to keep repeating myself but I'm not sure you saw this, Frostnip). So it seems like that situation of a preschooler not being fully potty trained could be reasonably accommodated - but it isn't, by HeadStart. So that leads me to suspect that a child with multiple severe allergies and asthma also would not be accommodated.

Potty training is, technically, a choice. Therefore, it is not a protected "condition." People with food allergies don't choose to have them, therefore it is.

[hertfordshire]

Originally Posted by Cliffie

It's standard treatment for food allergies. Ask your doctor. Avoid the food you're allergic to, and I mean completely, for 3 months. They then retest you. Very often you no longer test allergic for it at all. My own allergist told me that, and in the case of some of my 17 food allergies, it's worked fine. If that's not scientific enough for you, take it up with him.

If it were that easy, there wouldn't be any life-threatening allergies. Think about it. Someone is deathly allergic to peanuts. They NEVER have anything with peanuts. EVER. For YEARS. By your theory, the allergy would just resolve itself. But that same person has an accidental exposure years later and they still die of anaphylaxis.

[ClaraC]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

Potty training is, technically, a choice. Therefore, it is not a protected "condition." People with food allergies don't choose to have them, therefore it is.

Potty training isn't a choice, CarnivalGal. It's a skill/ability that has to be mastered by the child, and many 3 year olds haven't mastered that yet.

I'm still curious, and we may never know, how much the school knew about this child's condition.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by ClaraC

Potty training isn't a choice, CarnivalGal. It's a skill/ability that has to be mastered by the child, and many 3 year olds haven't mastered that yet.

I'm still curious, and we may never know, how much the school knew about this child's condition.

Legally, it falls under the same category as a choice, and therefore it is not a protected condition. The only exception being another disability that prevents a person (of any age) from being able to control their bowels and bladder.

[coschristi]

Originally Posted by LauraC

Why?

I have a theory but I'm not a doctor (as most here are not either).

My theory is based on my mother's (Ph.D.), aunt's (Ph.D. & MD) & 2 uncles (both Ph.D.'s & MD's) research. Specifically; the research conducted between the mid-1980's to early 2000's.

It's based on my personal (anecdotal) experience as a person with childhood food allergies (including dairy), chronic ENT infections, mainly Strep, requiring surgery at 18 months old & as a person diagnosed with ASD.

It's based on being an RN since 1992 & seeing first hand a dynamic shift in health care & social norms of pediatric knowledge. Dynamic shifts in NIH recommendations, political/government policy. Even the individual doctors ... are different. Or maybe differently educated.

It's based on being a mother of 11; born between 1986-2003 & seeing first hand a dynamic shift in ... kids. My kids: Two of which were diagnosed ADHD, one with severe anaphylactic food allergies, one high-functioning ASD & one with severe, regressive ASD. Their peers. The kids in school. Their parents. Health status, behaviors, social status, etc.

So if I hadn't managed to at least contemplate a theory by now I would have had to have been brain dead. But it's still theoretical. An opinion, even:

Originally Posted by luckyram

Try to remember grade school. (This may take either a few seconds or hours, depending on how far into the vault those memories are located.) Remember when it came time for lunch. Now, try to remember how many times you heard the phrase "food allergy."
If you're in your mid-20s or older, odds are the answer is "rarely, if ever."

Agreed.

I'm fairly old; started Kindergarten in 1973. Among my peers, growing up I specifically remember 1 kid who was allergic to strawberries & 1 who was allergic to chocolate. A random assortment who had "hay fever" from seasonal environmental triggers & the obligatory "pet dander" allergies. I was the weird one; with my allergies to a specific Red food dye & dairy.

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

... Just curious, how do you explain the substantial increase in adults who develop food allergies? People who grew up just like this (as I did), and then suddenly have a life-threatening reaction to a food they've eaten their whole life? It's happening a lot...

Agreed.

Whatever it is; either biological or man-made; it must be something that both kids & adults have had recent, increased exposure to. With kids either being more exposed ... or less resistant to the exposure.

Originally Posted by luckyram

My opinion???.....because when we were kids we played out in the smog, dirt, swamp water, rode our bikes behind mosquito spraying trucks, etc......today kids are so protected and sterilized that they don't get exposed to nor build up defenses to the germs & bacteria out there.

Agreed.

Especially ironic per the bolded.

Originally Posted by luckyram

Today, parents race their kids to get "antibiotics" (which BTW, don't work for viruses but for bacterial infections....yet doctors prescribe them to demanding parents/patients which has now led to the viruses becoming stronger & resistant to said antibiotics) and to the doctor for every little malady.

Agreed.

Antibiotics work on bacterial infections but overuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria... So; what works on viruses ...?

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

An interesting aside, there is evidence to suggest that whatever is causing the alarming spike in food allergies may also be responsible for the sharp increase in autism rates, as there seems to be a correlation between the two.

Agreed.

As for Autism; recent studies have noted that Autistic brains have an impaired function of Synaptic Pruning; thought to be caused by an atypical viral immune response.

Originally Posted by Pruzhany

Chemicals in the air and chemicals in our food supplies. Every time a chemical is mentioned. the FDA says its safe in small quantities.

Agreed.

The CDC likes that phrase too ... "Safe. In small quantities".

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

Well, I'm glad you have been able to figure out what the medical community, with all their training and studies, have failed to figure out or prove

.

Originally Posted by Pruzhany

As to doctors not being able to prove the correlations, there is just too much money out there from the chemical industry to pay off the right people for reports to be buried.

Agreed.

Between the money, the training & the studies? It's almost like the point of the reports was to fail to prove.

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

I'm not saying that antibiotics are the cause, and I'm not saying our "cleanliness" is not the cause. More than likely it is a combination of things like antibiotic exposure, cleanliness, chemicals (like pesticides), plastics, etc. etc. That would also explain why the incidents of allergies and autism are much lower in undeveloped countries.

Agreed.

A combination ... of things. Chemicals ... maybe even the viral agents causing the impaired Synaptic Pruning in the brains of children with Autism ...

Of course, undeveloped countries also have a much lower rate of access to modern medicine. And much higher rates of viral infections. Some undeveloped countries still have Pertussis (whooping cough). And Poliomyelitis (polio). And Measles ...

Originally Posted by MarisaAnna

We have a high rate of food allergies in Australia these days. It is the custom here that most children bring their lunch to school and it is often just eaten picnic style in the playground. It is now almost universal that parents know not to pack anything with nuts. Also children are taught not to share food if there are kids with allergies.
Before I retired we had to do courses in dealing with allergies. There are occasional problems but people here these days seem to accept keeping the peanut butter for home. Qantas, the Australian airline, does not serve any peanuts.

Agreed.

Austrailia is considered "developed". And it also has access to modern medicine & low rates of certain viral infections

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

The unfortunate fact is: The more effort we make to design a foolproof "safety net", the more likely it becomes that the charming thing we call "society" will develop a new-and-"improved" generation of fools to test it; the phenomenon just seems to go hand-in-hand with a culture that conditions the slowest minds to expect absolute security without a requirement for individual responsibility, and every once in a while, too many warnings are ignored by functionaries whose only goal is a paycheck. Then a case such as this one surfaces.

I sincerely wish I could offer an answer, but that's highly unlikely in a politicized, and entrenched public sector.

Agreed.

It started with my generation ... we are the "new-and-improved generation of fools" it started to be tested on. But my children's & now grandchildren's generation has had a much larger "safety-net". And a much higher incidence of false-security. And Autism & allergies while the elders are increasing with allergies & Alzheimers ... etc ...

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

If it were that easy, there wouldn't be any life-threatening allergies. Think about it. Someone is deathly allergic to peanuts. They NEVER have anything with peanuts. EVER. For YEARS. By your theory, the allergy would just resolve itself. But that same person has an accidental exposure years later and they still die of anaphylaxis.

Exactly. That's why I asked.