This is just sad. Bizarre, but sad.
A 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a peanut butter snack, hospital officials said Monday.
Christina Desforges died in a Quebec hospital Wednesday after doctors were unable to treat her allergic reaction to the kiss the previous weekend.
Desforges, who lived in Saguenay, about 155 miles north of Quebec City, was almost immediately given a shot of Adrenaline, a standard tool for treating the anaphylactic shock brought on by a peanut allergy, officials said.
About 1.5 million Americans are severely allergic to even the smallest trace of peanuts and peanut allergies account for 50 to 100 deaths in the United States each year. Canadian figures were not immediately available.
That is unfortunate. The boyfriend should know that his girlfriend is allergic to peanuts and should have taken precautions such as not eating a peanut-based snack.
Hmmm…didn’t know it was that serious
What’s happening here? Where were these people 30 years ago? I don’t remember anyone would any food allergies when I was 10 in the 70s! Were these people dying in masses then with no CNN to inform us??
you have to feel sorry for her family
This particular allergy has been around for quite a while, but allergies are not big news as a rule–even now. I’m aware of someone that I worked with back in the 80s who was particularly sensitive to anything that might have been touched slightly by a peanut, and had the outrageously huge ER bills to prove it. Unfortunately, allergies are usually something to poke fun at. and not something to take too seriously.
Imigine killing your girlfriend by a kiss… must make you feel bad for quite a while!!
It must be cuz of the Evil Peanut Corporations.
There’s two probable explanations for the increase in food allergies. Either children died early and the allergy wasn’t diagnosed, or some environmental exposure is causing it. There are public schools where children are not allowed to take peanut butter sandwiches to school because another student has severe allergies. I’ve read before there’s some promising gene therapy for these allergies. There’s always a cure just around the corner that will never help you.
T.C.
Doesn’t Cheney still own peanut oil stocks?
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A truly tragic tale. I understand that with our increased exposure to all the chemicals around us, allergies are becoming much more prevalent. Another theory is that American peanuts are dry roasted while most foreign nuts are boiled. The higher temperatures of dry roasting change the molecular structure of the proteins to something the body can’t recognize as helpful. A third theory is people are too clean. By little or no exposure to allergens, and even bacteria and viruses, the body doesn’t build up its immune system as well as 20 yrs ago. Or the increase could be a combination.
Children identified with peanut allergies have doubled over the past five years. An estimated 4 % of Americans have peanut allergies while in the mid ’90s, it was only one %.
Usually, the first exposure, and sometimes several exposures will not trigger an allergic reaction. Then suddenly the body will fight off the food as if it were a foreign invader. The first attacks are not as severe as later ones when the body becomes extremely sensitive to the smallest traces. Most allergies can be treated with simple anti-histamines such as Benydral. Few are so severe that an “eppi” pen, containing a shot of adrenaline, must be within reach at all times.
The good news is that many people will outgrow their peanut allergy.
The linked story offers another idea: Peanut allergies have been rising in recent decades. The reason remains unclear, but one study found that baby creams or lotions with peanut oil may cause children to develop allergies later in life.
My wife was very concerned, when we read this story in our local paper. She works at a gourmet food store, and is constantly reminding co-workers that the plastic tongs they use to give samples of candies need to be kept segregated if they are sampling anything with nuts [not just peanuts].
From the story, that the girl was “was almost immediately given a shot of Adrenaline” makes me wonder if she was carrying one of the emergency syringes for people with strong allergies.
Maybe, just maybe if parents would STOP putting their children in completely sterile environments they would not develop allergies this severe, the immune system was designed to fight against bacteria, viruses, etc. Not dust mite dung or peanuts.