Potentially fatal food allergies untreated

CHILDREN with severe food allergies that could kill them are having to wait up to eight months to see Ireland’s only publicly appointed paediatric allergy expert.

One in 12 Irish children suffer from a rare food allergy and, while the population base suggests Ireland should have four publicly appointed child allergy experts, it only has one, who works part-time.

Professor Jonathan O’Hourihane, head of paediatrics and child health at University College Cork, said he could only devote half of his time to dealing with childhood allergies because of teaching and research commitments.

“If we had more time for me or a committed funded service, we could nail this problem and provide teaching and support to paediatric and GP colleagues around the country,” he said.

“Allergy will never win an awareness or funding contest with cancer or diabetes, but it affects a lot of children and their families in unique ways, such as anxiety, social isolation and even bullying, never mind the actual physical symptoms it can cause.”

According to Prof Hourihane there may be 20,000 children in Ireland affected by food allergies.

In the past year he has seen waiting times at the allergy clinic in Cork University Hospital increase from 14 weeks to eight months.

Prof Hourihane said he was able to see about 450 referrals a year and had about 350 waiting to see him. “Like many other services that grow from university appointments, it could do with more backing from the Health Service Executive,” he said.

In Britain it is recommended there are two public paediatric allergists to cover a region with a population of about two million.

“Ireland has a population of about four million, so we should have four paediatric allergists,” said Prof Hourihane.

He said food allergies had to be taken seriously.

“They kill about 30 people a year in the UK so it is possible to speculate that they kill two to three people a year in Ireland, but there is very low medical awareness about the signs to look for,” he said.

“The children we see are usually quite well but they could be potentially very ill if they come in contact with an allergy.”

The most prevalent food allergies are milk and eggs and while most allergies go away when a child gets older, they should not be ignored.

Peanut allergies are becoming increasingly common, with upwards of 16,000 Irish children affected.

The allergies are the most common cause of fatal food-related allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) but not all sufferers experience a severe reaction. Some just suffer mild swelling.

Prof Hourihane also believes hay fever could be managed better in primary care.

“Now is a particularly good time to talk about hay fever because specialist care can really improve an affected child’s exam performance and decrease their medication use during the summer,” he said.