Food allergies on the increase

Allergy New Zealand are holding their annual food allergy awareness campaign this week.

The aim  is to raise awareness of food allergies and the challenges faced by the people who live with them.

The organisation estimates one in ten children under the age of five has a food allergy, with reactions ranging from mild through to severe, the worst cases resulting in anaphylaxis (a life threatening reaction).

Allergy New Zealand communications manager, Karina Yanez  said the situation was made worse by a lack of specialists.

“In New Zealand the situation is compounded by the lack of specialist services particularly outside of Auckland, leading to long waiting times before carers can get an accurate diagnosis and clinical advice on management of their child’s condition.”

While she was not always allergic to nuts,  student Alyson Leigh Eberle developed her allergy after an infection caused her immune system to attack itself, killing her immunity to tree nuts.

“I had no idea for around a year, since I never was a huge fan of nuts, but one day I ate some chocolate covered Brazil nuts and my face swelled up and I was diagnosed with the allergy.”

Since then her condition has  worsened meaning that if she touches nut oils or sits too close to someone eating nuts, it can cause her body to go into anaphylaxis.

She says that while she does take precautions, she will never be 100 percent safe.

“While in the hospital I overheard a doctor tell my father that one day I won’t get there in time and this allergy will most likely be how I die. The look on my dad’s face, he was so pale and scared, I hated that my allergy made him worry like that.”

She ends up in the hospital a few times each year, this year it has been only three times but some years she has been in more than 15 times.

She says one of the main problems is that she can tell some people over and over but they still do not understand until she has a reaction.

“I’ve had many scares on airplanes, in public, and even been called a fascist by Michael Laws on air a few years ago because I support taking nuts out of schools and airplanes.”

“I have lived with this for 14 years and will for the rest of my life, the thing that scares me is that there are children who have this allergy and don’t have the means to protect themselves.”

Allergy New Zealand will be holding a family get together on at 3pm on Friday 16 of May at the Parents Centre, 87 Boundary Rd. Families are invited to come along and have a cup of tea and chat with other families dealing with allergies. You can join the Allergy Families Waikato support group on Facebook.