Nut Allergy

Anyway on the way home he felt a bit peckish and decided to have the sweat and sour chicken

Sounds horrid!

Having re-read the post this morning (and not being half-asleep as per when I posted my reply) I can see more flippancy in the post, I have to say.
Interesting subject though, should be a good discussion


Andy, How about this? I won`t post any more "offensive" topics if you agree to go to bed earlier.[y]

Heheh agreed! Pretty tragic that I had nothing better to do to be honest!
Andy

Originally posted by Armonk
Thought I might be able to add some points to this discussion as my eldest boy who's now 9 suffers from an allergy to peanuts. Apologies for the length of my reply, but it is something I feel strongly about.

The first point I'd like to make is that this kind of allergy is different to others that are maybe more commonly encountered. The severity of a reaction in my son's case could be different from one day to the next. So it's difficult to class nut allergy sufferers as "severe" or "not severe". One day contact could just produce a rash or hives, the next he could swell like a balloon.

Second point. Having a peanut allergy is a disability, he didn't ask for it or do anything to "catch" it, he is a victim of chance as nobody has yet definitiviely identified why this condition is becoming more prevalent. To say people why would people suffering from this allergy put themselves inside a sealed matal box would be discrimination as it is for any discrimination again disabled people.

I'm a regular business flyer with Virgin. Last year decided to take my family on vacation to New York with Virgin as I have always been impressed with their service and my boys wanted to see this place dad was always flying off to. At the time of booking you have to inform Virgin of any traveller disabilities including allergies. You are then sent a medical questionaire which we had to complete in from which your GP maybe contacted. A few weeks later you get informed whether you will be allowed to fly. We did not request any special treatment apart from requesting a nut free meal if that was possible and permission to take onboard his epipens. We took a packed meal along for him just in case anyway.

I booked our seats at the back corner of the plane, just to reduce the chances of someone sitting around him who decided to munch away at a packet of nut.

But you have to imagine how worried as parents we were. Of course we carry his Epipens wherever he goes, but even in the case they are used, we have always been advised to take him straight the A&E. The though of being at 30,000ft and potentially 3hrs from emergency services is always hiding at the back of your mind.

As people have mentioned, it is not only the ingestion of peanuts, but exposure to the aroma at the other extreme which could cause a reaction. But it is the ingestion which is most likely to cause the most severe and life threatening conditions. But everyday we have to balance risks against rewards, and I thought the experience of him visiting NY outweighed the small but potentially deadly risk. Otherwise, what are the alternatives, he never travels beyond the UK.

I was quite surprised but please when the stewardess announced that there was a young boy with a severe peanut allegery onboard and they would request that passengers refrain from eating peanuts. Rather than the aroma being my main worry, my concern had been that someone eating a packet of nuts will then have the residue on their hands. This could then be picked up by my son who could then inadvertantly lick his fingers at some point.

But the outbound flight passed without incident, and I can only thanks indirectly the people who did refrain from eating nuts on that journey, and the cabin crew who took a special interest in the welfare on my son. The return journey was just a good, except for him being given a muffin for breakfast which was clearly labelled as having potential nut ingredients!

His life will already be blighted, no Curry's or Chinese meals after a few pints down the pub. No snogging without first asking if she's had any peanuts (not a good chat up line). Why shouldn't he be able to experience the rest of the world like the rest of us. Surely it's a small price to pay nut eating nuts for a few hours. For my sins, I've been an addicted 20 a day smoker for years, but if I can go without a cigarette on a long haul flight so that I don't expose others to passive smoking surely someone can refrain from nuts for the same amount of time.

Someone earlier mentioned that their wouldn't kiss their partner for 24 hrs of they had eaten nuts, and put few "!!!" at the end of the sentence. Last year, a peanut allergy sufferer died in just that way, after kissing their partner a few hour after they had eaten nuts.

I could go on, but I expect many readers might have not read this far. Every shopping trip is an event in my househould, having to read the labels of everything we buy. Even though a product doesn't have "may include nuts" this month, it doesn't it won't next month. Rarely has my son been to a birthday party where he can eat the birthday cake, as normally it's not known by the birthday boys parents whether it has nuts in it, nor do we expect them to know. So maybe you can see why I can't treat someone being asked to not eat peanuts for a few hours as being a matter of deep concern.

BTW, I love peanuts, I only get to get them when away on business these days and would eat them on the flight. I don't wish to ban peanuts on all flights, but if someone asked me not to for a valid reason of course I will refrain.
I'm not a "no nut" nazi, just your average concerned parent.

Sorry to learn of your sons condition,I must admit that the true seriousness of the condition was not apparent to me until I read your post. The next time the announcement on board asks for nuts not to be consumed we will all have a greater understanding and sympathy.Thanks for bringing to everyones attention.

Allergies take many forms and I always ask the question "What if YOU had something similar - would you appreciate people being generous to you". Do you relaise people can actually die from such alergies and such comments are not funny. Compassion for others is what is actually meant to separate humans from animals.
A nut allergy happens to be one of the most frequent allergy's in the world after dairy intolerance yet airlines dont offer nut free meals (last time i ask they suggested a vegetairan meal - guess what was flaked over it - yep almonds).
Last time I accidently ate something that traditionally didnt have nuts in it but some smart ^&&^% chef decided to be cutting edge and add them I nearly died. Allergys can also develop- they may not have been an issue in the past because nuts were easy to avoid- but as manufacturers substitute one product ingredient for another, or extract a "flavour" or addivtive that maybe found in a nut to add to some food (that may not even be thought of as having nuts in it) then people suffering these allergies become noticed more and more.

This will be a sprint compared to my 1st marathon post.

Thanks for all the comments of support.

To answer a few of the questions :

Is the condition hereditary ? No real proof to that effect, but they do now know the gene that causes the problem - which leads to hope for a cure.

How did it first manifest itself? My wife gave him a small piece of her peanut butter on toast when he was about 1 - his head exploded (not literally of course, just huge amounts of swelling)

All in all, he's a sensible lad (9 going on 40). Will never eat anything he's not read the ingredients for or that he's unfamiliar with. But he has a normal kids life, and travelling is just that bit more of an "adventure" for him than most.

Interesting fact, for a true allergy to exist a person has to be expossed previously to the allergen (peanut etc) and then reexposed at a later state.

Now I could go into the numerous types of reaction but believe it or not the peanut allergy or any foodstuff allergy is a very similar form of reaction as something most of us have - our BCG/TB scar on our left arm from when we were kids!!! Now that's enough science because I know for sure you certainly don't want to start hearing about interlukin medicated responses etc[|)]

Allergies take many forms and I always ask the question "What if YOU had something similar - would you appreciate people being generous to you". Do you realize people can actually die from such allergies and such comments are not funny. Compassion for others is what is actually meant to separate humans from animals.

I do have something similar thanks, its also life threatening and requires that I take extreme care when eating in places where shellfish is commonly found (Chinese restaurants involve a LOT of questioning of wait staff). I could die but last time I checked I havent just yet.

Now who exactly is 'being funny'? I am a little vexed at your belligerent tone when people have been discussing this issue rationally (mostly).

My point which you seem to have missed is that I take responsibility for MY health and I CHOOSE not to rely on others to do so. To make a silly analogy, what if I started a campaign to remove shrimp from Wontons in ALL Chinese restaurants in the UK (some places put them into the dish even when the menu says its pork) on the off chance I ate there.

To me that is EXACTLY the same as the woman campaigning in the US to have US based Airlines remove ALL nuts from ALL flights as she is afraid to fly with her son (granted I dont know the extent of his allergy but as I have said before IF it is a case where he is so hyper-sensitive to nut residue in the air then she surely has to question the wisdom of placing him in proximity to so many people anywhere, especially on a plane).

To follow on with something Armonk said, in my experience my allergy is hereditary as it follows the matriarchal line in my family.

I recall flying back from IAD on VS, a good 4-5 years ago now. I was in the Clubhouse in Dulles, when a family of 2 parents, 2 kids came in. I'd been sitting upstairs watching telly, yet this unruly child ran up and switched the channel over so he could find something more amusing, before firing up the games console there. AT this point I went downstairs to wait for the flight to depart.
Skip forwards to when we're taxiing out to the runway. We stopped on the tarmac and then headed back towards the terminal. The captain came on the blower and announced that someone on board who was alergic to peanuts had been taken ill with an allergic reaction, and so we were offloading them before things turned serious.
It transpired it was this kid who'd been treating the clubhouse as his own earlier on. Seems he had helped himself to the nuts which were freely available in the clubhouse.
It amazed me at the time that he was allowed to run around and do as he pleased - if that had been my kid, he'd have been walloped over the ear for behaving like that. Given that he then managed to eat peanuts and cause the ensuing medical scare, I think that was probably a lesson to be learnt by them all. I'm sure they've kept him under closer supervision since then. Thankfully they caught the situation before we took off!

On a separate occasion, when I was a kid myself (oh such a long time ago now!) I lived in Africa. I slowly developed allergies to a variety of things, like horses and various types of grass that were prevalent. One easter time I came out in a rash, from head to toe. It came on within a matter of an hour or so, and I was in misery - this thing itched like you wouldnt believe. I was put on anti-histamines and had to coat myself liberally in hydra-cortisone cream several times a day.
A week later, it was still present, and I got on a 'plane to come over to the UK. Within 30 mins of taking off, the rash cleared up. It just went. It hadn't disappeared on the domestic flight I'd taken to connect to the flight to London..... but on the main international flight, I dont know what it was - maybe the air conditioning is better on a DC-10 than it is on a 737-200! It's probably not that often that taking a flight causes an allergic reaction to clear up, I'd say!

This is an amazingly informative subject, and all credit to V-Flyer for providing a facility in which to discuss.

There are many interesting questions, like a seriously allergic person could have a life threatening problem if exposed to an allergy, so should it be acceptable to let them board even though 350 other people don't? Transpose that to if a **** person boarded (substitute colour, ability etc,) would that be OK? In the scheme of things is allergy less important than disability? And how does a carrier respond to all these needs?

Aren't we glad that we don't have to make the rules and respond to customers?

Oh and my nuts are perfectly formed and allergy free should you like to sample them

[:p][:p]

An interesting perspective....

As I understand your post Slinky you are saying that a person with a nut allergy (or indeed any allergy) should be acomodated, to the detriment of all other customers, as anything less could be considered discriminatory.

I would disagree with that...and heres why.

Okay nuts are just nuts and 300 plus people being denied the eating of nuts for a few hours is neither here nor there. But what about other allergies? What is a person is allergic to sunlight, water on their skin, the cloth on the plane chairs, the antiseptic in the WCs etc etc etc.

Surely those people, should they choose to not take responsibility for keeping themselves healthy, could subject every other passenger on a flight to all sorts of issues in order to meet their needs.

If I was refused service in a restaurant due to my extreme allergy to shellfish should I scream discrimination? Or should I realise that this isnt the most healthy place for me to be and take responsibility for my OWN wellbeing.

The issue for today is only about nuts, but what if I started a campaign to ban shrimp from all flights in case of cross contamination in the galley (which in all honesty could kill me)....would I be justified...or would I be somebody that really should accept my health issues and take precautions without embarking on a militant agenda to make every other human being I come in contact with conform their behaviour in order to relieve myself of my own responsibilities.

Originally posted by slinky09
so should it be acceptable to let them board even though 350 other people don't? Transpose that to if a **** person boarded (substitute colour, ability etc,) would that be OK? In the scheme of things is allergy less important than disability? And how does a carrier respond to all these needs?

[:p][:p]

Slinky you have made the right seperation in your statement. An allergy, even a life threatening one is a condition that we clasify as an impairment, whereas a disability is something different. It is down to corportation/airlines etc to minimise disruption to a person with a disability whereas it isn't up to them for an impairment.

I know it sounds stupid but there's a long list of examples demonstrating the differences that I won't drive you to despair repeating from those dim and distant lectures a good few years ago.

There is one thing that I think has been missed in this discussion.

Packets of peanuts contain dust no other nuts do. Next time you have some check to see if you rub your hands together to get rid of it when you have eaten them. This is the problem with them in confined spaces.