Peanut Allergies No Small Concern

CHICAGO -- The case of a 15-year-old Canadian girl who died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, is raising awareness about the seriousness of peanut allergies, NBC5 HealthWatch reported on Tuesday.

For 13-year-old Samantha Ragusin comma of Naperville, even a trace of peanuts could send her into anaphylactic shock, closing her airway . In the past, a cookie with nuts sent her to the hospital.

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Related Article: Teenager Dies After Boyfriend's Kiss

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"Within five minutes of having that, we were in the bathroom," said Linda Ragusin, Samantha's mother. "I could barely get her out of the bathroom. She was doubled over in pain."

Ragusin wears a Medic Alert necklace and a waist pack of epinephrine shots.

"If I eat peanuts and I don't give myself the epinephrine shot, I could die," Samantha Ragusin said.

The Canadian teenager who died got a shot similar to the epinephrine shot after kissing her boyfriend, but doctors weren't able to revive her.

"It's kind of weird for me to find out somebody died of just a kiss," said Samantha Ragusin. "I know that now, I'll have to be so much more careful."

Relatives wipe their mouths before kissing her cheek.

"Sometimes it can be kind of embarrassing," Samantha Ragusin said. "You know, asking, 'Did you have peanut butter?' But someday, it could save my life."

Studies show 1.5 percent of children may have a life-threatening case, and that number is growing. Doctors are unsure why, but it is thought to be due to genetics and exposure to peanuts in infancy.

"From a parents standpoint, you think, 'I have to worry about sex,'" said Linda Ragusin. "Now, we have to worry about a kiss."

There is no cure for food allergies, except avoiding any trace of that food. Dr. Mary Kay Tobin said a new drug called Xolair may allow a tiny amount of peanut exposure. Tobin said she hopes drugs like Xolair will soon get FDA approval.

"To keep antibodies that would be reacting against the peanut from getting to the allergy cells and mass cells," Tobin, a Rush allergist, said. "That has shown in studies to be preventive in the sense that a child or adult would be able to tolerate eight or nine peanuts without a severe reaction."

On The Net:

http://www.pocaofdupage.org/

http://www.mochallergies.org/

http://www.foodallergy.org/