May 21st Wed at 7 pm Nokomis Elementary with Guest Speaker Dr. David
Pollack.  See our May flyer on the home page at
www.protectallergickids.com

Guest Speaker: Paul Stellino, 504 plan coordinator for Sachem School
District
Learn how to have a SAFE plan at school!
7 pm to 9 pm
Nokomis School in Holbrook
Walk ins welcome
Bring family and friends
Light refreshments and Raffle

Friday, March 7th at 7:30 pm in Holtsville.  RSVP to
cristina@...  Party for WILDTREE, ALL Natural Food
Co.

Please mark your calendars for Wed, Feb 27th at 8 - 9:30 pm at Nokomis
Elementary School in Holbrook.  RSVP at
cristina@....  Also visit our Message Center at
www.protectallergickids.com for Member postings.  Great stuff!

Just wanted to see if you are all set for the big day?  I found this
cute pumpkin sticker game book at Starbucks for my kids.  They loved
it!

Cristina, The Allergy and Anaphylaxis Act of 2007 (A.4051/S.298),
passed in New York State as a state law as you know this summer,
definitely does not have funding attached to it as described below.
Neither did the similar state bill version in 2006. The text of the law
now in effect can be found at http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?
bn=A04051. I think Donna is thinking of the federal legislation, known
as The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act (HR.2063 / S.1232) .
This federal bill has not been voted on yet and its chances at passage
are probably not great. This federal bill, both its 2006 version and in
its 2007 version does have a provision to provide for "school- based
food allergy management incentive grants to local educational agencies
to assist such agencies with adoption and implementation of food
allergy management guidelines in public k-12 schools." This must be
what Donna has seen and does not realize the state law passed is
different that the federal bill that has been introduced but not
passed. I hope this helps. - Robert (Food Allergy Initiative)

Let Oprah hear us! On September 14, 15 and 16 we are asking everyone
we know to e-mail Oprah. The hope is that there will be enough
stories (or e- mails)that we get their attention and they do a show.
The instructions for responding can be found below.
===================================================== Let Oprah hear
us! Oprah is looking for new topics for her show and we have a great
one for her - Food Allergies! She is looking for input through
the "Ask Dr Oz about your children's health!" section on her web
site. We need your help to ensure that she understands the extent of
the food allergy issue. It is important that all the "Dr. Oz health
questions" are submitted within a few days of each other. Hopefully
the volume of questions on food allergies will demonstrate that there
is enough interest to warrant a show on food allergies. STEP 1) Go to
Oprah's web site on Friday, September 14, Saturday, September 15 or
Sunday, September 16. Here is the link directly to "Ask Dr Oz about
your children's health!"
https://www.oprah.com/plugger/templates/BeOnTheShow.j html?
action=respond&plugId=261800001 STEP 2) Complete the form found on
the web site (name, address, etc.) STEP 3) Submit your question and
story to Dr. Oz. The story section allows 2000 characters (or about 8
lines of text). Do either option a, b or c. a)Write your own personal
question and story. b)Use one of the 5 sample questions and stories
attached to this e- mail or found at www.pocaofdupage.org/. c)Use one
of the 5 sample questions and stories and modify the story. Helpful
hints to copy text: To copy the example question and the response,
open the word document and the web site page. Highlight the selected
question and response. Then press the Ctrl key at the same time as
the "C" button (for copy). Then move over to the web page, place your
cursor in the comment section. Then press the Ctrl key at the same
time as the "V" button (for paste). STEP 4) Hit Submit STEP 5)
Forward the e-mail requesting participation to everyone.

Cristina,

Our understanding is that there are no laws and little in terms of
regualtions that govern epinephrine administration in schools.
Presently a 2002 directive from the New York State Department of
Education states that school nurses are permitted to train and
delegate non-nurse school personnel to administer epinephrine.  The
language is clear that nurses are not required to train and
delegate.  Each school presently makes such decisions on delegation
and training themselves within their own school districts and in some
cases school by school even within a district.  You can view the 2002
directive at this webpage:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/deputy/Documents/epi-penfieldmemo.html.

New York City just 3 months ago issued new regulations related to
epinephrine in city public schools and can be found at
http://docs.nycenet.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-283/A-715.pdf.
These are good regulations (not perfect) that hopefully will serve as
a model.

Another good resource is The New York Statewide School Health
Services Center's School Health Modules - "best practice guidance"
document recently created called the "Food Allergy Module".  This
state-funded organization, NYSSHSC, is under contract with the New
York State Education Department to provide technical assistance to
public schools in NYS.  They are careful to say in their document
that the document is "intended for guidance" and "does not constitute
a mandate nor imply liability, should the school nurse choose other
options for care."  Regardless of the language saying school nurses
do not have to follow the guidance in the draft module, it may be
useful to parents as a resource and as proof to their schools that
their own state education department considers this guidance
important to convey.  My hope is that we will use this NYSSHSC module
as a part of the new state guidelines that the law requires be
developed this coming year.  You can see it at:
http://schoolhealthservices.org/uploads/Draft%20Food%20Allergy%
20Module.pdf.  It is still called "draft" so school nurses may not
yet have been made aware of it.

FAI is not able to provide answers to you on your specific questions
pertaining to waivers of liability and cannot comment on that
legality of such requests in schools since we are not lawyers and
have not been shown the waivers of liability documents to review.

Of course it does not make sense and would be dangerous in a medical
emergency to require a child (with no adult backup) to have to self
administer epinephrine, and of course it would make sense to have
epinephrine in or in close proximity to a cafeteria where allergens
are present.  Although it is hard to imagine a school taking chances
with the lives and health of children and somehow thinking they have
less liability by getting these waivers signed than in providing
trained school personnel to monitor food allergic students when
eating, we do not know of any laws or regulations statewide in New
York that say school nurses must always be present to administer
epinephrine and certainly do not know of any laws requiring school
nurses to delegate and train others in their absence.

The law that we just passed does not remedy these issues explicitly.
Instead, it requires state guidelines be developed by 6/30/08 to
include:  (a) a procedure and treatment plan including
responsibilities for school nurses and other appropriate school
personnel for responding to anaphylactic shock; (b) a training course
for appropriate school personnel for preventing and responding to
anaphylactic shock; (c) a procedure and appropriate guidelines for
development of an individualized emergency health care plan for
children with a food or other allergy which could result in
anaphylaxis; (d) a communication plan for intake and dissemination of
information on children with a food or other allergy which could
result in anaphylaxis; and, (e) strategies for reduction of the risk
of exposure to anaphylactic causative agents including food and other
allergens.

These state guidelines will recommend specific guidelines pertaining
to epinephrine issues but will not compel schools to adopt the state
guidelines verbatim.  The law requires school districts to "consider
and take action on" the new state guidelines.  Our hope is that
schools will consider the "take action" clause seriously and will
adopt strong and safe policies.  The language in the law is the best
we could do to get the bill passed.  Time will tell how it will be
interpreted and enforced.

I am sorry these important and complex issues are not clearer.  Many
schools and districts are very responsible and will protect students
to the best of their ability.  The examples you have provided are I
think and hope more the exception than the norm (at least these more
extreme and irresponsible school policies) and hopefully over time
will improve.

- Robert

Robert M. Pacenza
Executive Director
Food Allergy Initiative
1414 Ave. of the Americas, Suite 1804
New York, NY  10019-2514
212-207-1975 (direct line)
917-338-5130 (fax)
rpacenza@...
www.faiusa.org

Hi Barbara,

That's wonderful about your son.  I just have one question, when is it
a non anaphylatic level?  How do they know?

Thanks,
Kelli

Hi Cristina,

A diet free of milk, egg, garlic, tomato, peanut,
tree nuts, and berries is very restricted
already. It is important not to further restrict
the diet if it is not necessary to do so. We
would suggest that this mother discuss these
recommendations with the child's allergist.
Unless the doctor says to, we would not advise
avoiding pitted fruits or other legumes (beans,
chick peas, etc.). I'm not sure where the idea of
avoiding baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa
comes from, but we know of no reason to restrict
them based on the named allergies.

The articles below have more information about food families.

Debbie

The following is excerpted form the Research
Update article in the August/September 2002 issue of Food Allergy News
Copyright 2002 The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

Clinical Implications Of Cross-Reactive Food Allergens

Individuals with food allergy often wonder if
they have to worry about foods that are "related"
to the ones to which they are allergic. In a
recent review article, Dr. Scott H. Sicherer (a
member of FAAN's Medical Advisory Board and
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division
of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Jaffe Food
Allergy Institute, Mount Sinai School of
Medicine, New York, NY) summarized the rates of
cross reactions among various foods as shown below.

The article highlighted several points, among
them: 1) some food families are very cross
reactive (tree nuts, fish, shellfish, mammal
milk) while others are not (beans, legumes,
grains), and 2) allergy tests are often positive
for related foods (e.g., a positive test for
string bean in someone allergic to peanut) but
true allergic reactions when eating the related
food (in this case string bean) are comparatively uncommon.

The issue of cross-reactivity in food families
can be very complicated and requires a careful evaluation by your
physician.

The chart below summarizes the study findings.

If Allergic to - Risk of Reaction to at Least One - Risk Percentage:
A legume (peanut) - Other legumes (peas, lentils, beans) - 5%
A tree nut (walnut) - Other tree nuts (brazil, cashew, hazelnut) - 37%
A fish (salmon) - Other fish (swordfish, sole) - 50%
A shellfish (shrimp) - Other shellfish (crab, lobster) - 75%
A grain (wheat) - Other grains (barley, rye) - 20%
Cow's milk - Beef (hamburger) - 10%
Cow's milk - Goat's milk (goat) - 92%
Cow's milk - Mare's milk - (horse) - 4%

-Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Vol. 108, No. 6, 881-890



This article appeared in the October/November 1993 issue of Food
Allergy News
Copyright 1993 The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

Food Families and Restricted Diets:  Do They Go Together?
by Jan Bernhisel-Broadbent, M.D.

If your child has food allergies, you understand
all too well how challenging and, at times,
frustrating a food-restricted diet can
be.  Therefore, the last thing you should do is
restrict foods unnecessarily.  This article
explains how the common practice of restricting
entire biologically related food families
originated, and why this practice is not needed for most children.

Foods were first classified into biologically
related groups for diagnosing an allergy, in the
late 1920s.  Previously, foods had been listed
alphabetically.  Some time later, a poorly
controlled study "diagnosed" 17 of 22 patients as
allergic to two or more legumes (peanuts, peas,
beans, soy, and lentils).  A later study using
only laboratory blood tests concluded that
multiple food allergies within the legume food family is likely to be
common.

Based on these studies, doctors began to advise
the restriction of an entire biologically related
food family if a patient was found allergic to
one food in that family.  There are several
important reasons to question this practice:

There is a problem with compliance.  If diets are
overly restrictive, your child is less likely to
avoid the food to which he or she is truly allergic.

There are numerous reports of serious nutritional
deficiencies and diseases in children on overly restrictive diets.

Overrestriction is potentially abusive to your
child and family because food plays such an
integral role in our socialization and daily enjoyment.

The conclusions of the earlier research were not
based on well-controlled studies.

The conclusions of the earlier research were
generalized from information on pollen
allergens.  Research has shown that typical food
allergens (the part of the food, usually a
protein, that causes the allergic reaction) behave differently than
pollens.

The evidence for discontinuing this practice of
restricting entire biologically related food
families comes from several well-controlled,
blind food challenge studies. In blind oral food
challenges, patients eat the food in question in
a "hidden" fashion and are observed by a doctor
for a positive or negative response.

Two scientists reviewed the results from 16 years
of oral food challenges of 480 children. They
found that only 11 percent of the children
reacted to more than one food despite many
complaints that multiple foods caused asthma or
other symptoms.  Additionally, they reported that
of the 480 children, only 2 were allergic to two
legumes, and only 1 was allergic to two cereal
grains (oat, wheat, barley, and rye).

A much more common pattern of multiple food
allergies is for a child to be allergic to both
milk and egg or peanut and egg--three obviously
biologically unrelated foods.  The researchers
also reviewed their peanut-allergic
patients.  Only 5 percent of them were allergic
to another legume.  None of these patients were
allergic to tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and brazil nuts).

In another study, 69 children with one or more
positive skin tests to legumes were
evaluated.  Forty-one of these children were
determined, by oral food challenge, to be
allergic to a legume.  Only 5 percent, or 2 out
of 41 children, were allergic to more than one
legume.  Both of these children had peanut
anaphylaxis and soy allergies. After a two-year
soy-restricted diet, both children outgrew their allergies to soy.

If doctors had relied on the earlier practice of
positive laboratory blood tests or skin test
results to diagnose food allergy, 49 of the
original 69 patients would have been diagnosed as
having an allergy to two or more legumes.  The
dramatic difference in numbers results because
many positive skin or laboratory tests to foods
do not accurately predict that allergic symptoms
will occur when the food is eaten.  Other studies
have further highlighted how often positive skin
tests fail to predict true food allergy.

Investigators identified 145 patients with
positive skin tests to one or more cereal
grains.  Only 21 percent were "truly" allergic to
grain when challenged with oral tests. Only 6 of
these children were allergic to more than one
grain.  Similarly, the overwhelming majority of
children allergic to eggs or milk are not
allergic to chicken or beef, respectively.

Patients with fish allergy appear to differ
greatly, however.  Some patients react only to
one fish; others appear to be allergic to
multiple fish species (cod, salmon, flounder, tuna, snapper, and so
on).

I commonly see patients who tell me they are
"allergic" to a long list of foods, based on
positive skin or blood tests.  But, as you can
see, it is generally unnecessary to restrict
entire food families. There are two exceptions to
these recommendations: tree nuts and shellfish
(crustaceans, such as shrimp, lobster, crab; and
mollusks, such as clams, oysters, and
scallops).  Adequate studies, of these food
families have not been completed to date.

Generally, if a skin test and history or oral
challenge are positive to one member of the tree
nut family, such as walnut, I would restrict the
entire tree nut family. The exception is if a
nonallergy to another tree nut, such as pecan, is
confirmed with a negative skin test and negative
oral challenge.  Although a food allergy to tree
nuts or shellfish is often life-long and severe,
total group elimination is generally not nutritionally hazardous.

In conclusion, the diagnosis and management of
the food-allergic child should not be approached
casually.  The overall goal for successful
management of your food-allergic child is
accurate diagnosis and total restriction of the
specific food only.  This step, in turn, will
lead to better compliance, nutrition, and health.

Jan Bernhisel-Broadbent is an allergist in Salt Lake City, Utah.


At 07:30 AM 8/20/2007, you wrote:
>One of my new members has a 3 yr old
>anaphylactic to milk, eggs, garlic, tomatoes,
>peanuts, tree nuts and berries.  A Nutritionist
>told her to avoid black all fruits with pits,
>beans, chick peas, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa.  Any
thoughts?
>
>Cristina S.
><http://www.protectallergickids.com>www.protectallergickids.com

_______________________________________

Debbie Scherrer, Member Communications

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

Barbara Lehmann Monday, 8/20/07, 4:52 AM

  Hi Christina, When will I receive the envelopes for the FAAN walk?
Hope all is well with you. I wanted to tell you about my son Kevin ,
he is 14 going to be 15 in a few weeks. He has been anaphylactic to
peanuts and tree nuts since he was a baby. He also has severe asthma.
We have been Seeing Nichole the acupuncturist since a week after she
came to speak. He has been off all his asthma meds since about 4
weeks after that, only has had to use his inhalers a few times in 4
months. He has been treated for alot of foods that he was only
sensitive to not anaphylactic( he was severely allergic to these when
he was younger) to like milk, eggs, wheat, various vitamins, minerals
also treated for mold, trees, grass, smoke. He just had his yearly
checkup with his allergist and ran the annual blood rast test, His
peanut and tree nut numbers all came down to a NON ANAPHYLACTIC level
for the first time since 18 months old to our and Dr. Mayers
surprise . Dr Mayer says its like a miracle. He is going to eat
peanut butter in his office in a few weeks. We don't quite know if
its what Nicole has been doing or the rare case of growing out of the
allergy. I believe it is NAET treatment. Kevin says he has never felt
so good since having acupuncture. I wanted to let you all know so we
may give you all the hope for all the children. And maybe some others
would like to try the NAET treatment. I hope to be able to make the
next meeting so I can share this with everyone and explain the
treatment from a patients point and update on what happens with the
peanut chanallange at the Drs. office. Talk to you soon Barbara

  what is your child allergic to?  peanuts and tree nuts

Hi Cristina,
A new study was launched yesterday, and I want to be sure you know
about it since you had an interest in participating in a research
survey. FAAN is working with the University of Michigan on this
project. Please see the link below for more information, and feel free
to pass it along to your group members.
http://www.foodallergy.org/Research/Surveys.html
Debbie
_______________________________________
Debbie Scherrer, Member
Communications The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

I tried the pumpkin and cake mix and my kids love it! I used a Duncan
Hines spice cake mix (wheat was the only allergen listed), 15 ounce can
of pumpkin and I added 2 TBS of sour cream (Paula Dean would be proud)
and mixed it up in my mixer for about 2 minutes. I cooked them in the
Williams-Sonoma bug cake pan and they came out firm, moist and cute.
Thank you for the EASY (and more importantly EGGLESS, peanutless,
nutless, shellfishless, soyless) cake recipe!

Great news. We had my son's CSE meeting today and they gave him a matron
(aid) for the bus. We didn't have one the past few years. I gave them a
doctor's note along with bus procedures (see our June Bulletin). I am
so happy Sachem School District is keeping him safe.

My son takes swimming leasons and the instructor always says that he
sneezes alot.  Some days are worse then others.  This is an indoor pool
as well.  I was thinking we is allergic to Chlorine (just what we need,
anothr allergy) but he does not sneeze alot when in my mothers pool.
The only thing I can think of is the amount of Chlorine!
>

Did you know? I confirmed today via phone that Johnson & Johnson,
manufacturer of Benadryl, carries 2 Benadryl products containing milk.
1) Children's BENADRYL® Allergy Fastmelt® 2) BENADRYL® Capseals (for
Adults)

My allergic son has been sneezing a lot too all week.  Has to be
something in the air.

--- In Protectallergickids@yahoogroups.com, "T" <tessarina1@...>
wrote:
>
> Very interesting.  My daughter has been sneezing quite a bit the
past
> four days or so.  She has been swimming a lot, but at the beach.
Her
> sneezes are not "dry" (for lack of a better way to say it...) so I
> would think something is going on in the sinuses.  Her sneezing
isn't
> constant either.  She goes crazy in the morning, then it levels off
to
> a few sneezes.  I'd like to know what the deal is too.  This is my
NON
> allergic child!
>
>
> --- In Protectallergickids@yahoogroups.com, "alisha_coupe"
> <alisha@> wrote:
> >
> > My son has been sneezing like crazy the past few days and the
only
> > thing I can think of is the weather.  It was a bit windy the past
2
> > days.  Also he has been swimming, could be the chlorine, maybe?
> > Anyone else?
> >
>

Very interesting.  My daughter has been sneezing quite a bit the past
four days or so.  She has been swimming a lot, but at the beach.  Her
sneezes are not "dry" (for lack of a better way to say it...) so I
would think something is going on in the sinuses.  Her sneezing isn't
constant either.  She goes crazy in the morning, then it levels off to
a few sneezes.  I'd like to know what the deal is too.  This is my NON
allergic child!


--- In Protectallergickids@yahoogroups.com, "alisha_coupe"
<alisha@...> wrote:
>
> My son has been sneezing like crazy the past few days and the only
> thing I can think of is the weather.  It was a bit windy the past 2
> days.  Also he has been swimming, could be the chlorine, maybe?
> Anyone else?
>

My son has been sneezing like crazy the past few days and the only
thing I can think of is the weather.  It was a bit windy the past 2
days.  Also he has been swimming, could be the chlorine, maybe?
Anyone else?

I know many of us moms are often faced with bringing food with us to
gatherings for our little ones. Here is a bag that was recently
featured on the Today Show. It is great for moms on the go. It is not
cheesy looking, practical for working moms, and it can be used as an
insulated cooler. Here is the website: http://www.coolercouture.com/

Researched Tom's Toothpaste (per Joe's suggestion at the July meeting)
and this is what I found out. Natural Moisturizing Hand Soap liquids
(Contains wheat protein) Natural Moisturizing Body Wash (Contains wheat
protein) All other Tom's of Maine products are alcohol-free and do not
contain casein or caseinate, MSG, wheat, oats, barley, rye, malt,
spelt, kamut, HPP, or HVP. None of our flavor oils are grain-distilled.
We do not use flour of any kind in our manufacturing process for
conveyor belts or for any other purpose. Our containers are not dusted
with flour before filling. We hope that this provides you with the
information you need to make a healthy choice. For more information,
check our gluten dietary fact sheet.

FAAN doesn't test the foods, but when a member has had an allergic
reaction to a food that should have been safe according to the label,
we try to help the member report the reaction to the regulatory agency
that can do an investigation (FDA or USDA), and we are sometimes able
to put them in touch with a lab that tests the product for them.

Dr. Robert A. Wood wrote an article exclusively for PAK on the 504
Plan.  This will really help you plan for school in September.
http://www.protectallergickids.com/Books.html

I am still in the process of updating the July Monthly Bulletin but you
can take a peek.
http://www.protectallergickids.com/Julybulletin.html

--- In Protectallergickids@yahoogroups.com, "Cristina" <stainkamp@...>
wrote:
>
> Peanut allergy news made the Yahoo home page today. The link is for
an
> ABC news story on the possible allergy free peanut (supposedly
removing
> the three proteins that cause the reactions). If nothing else, the
> news report helps educate that many more! Cut and paste:
>
> http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?
>
FAAN has an excellent FAQ about the link between soy and peanut, which
you can read up on at http://www.foodallergy.org/allergens/psfaq.html.
Dr. Wood is on the board of directors, and I believe he contributed to
this. Some organizations were distributing false information on this
topic, which stirred up a lot of unnecessary anxiety, so FAAN responded
by posting this on their site.

Go to Calendar on the left of this page for the PAK Events list or
www.protectallergickids.com and click Calendar.

Peanut allergy news made the Yahoo home page today. The link is for an
ABC news story on the possible allergy free peanut (supposedly removing
the three proteins that cause the reactions). If nothing else, the
news report helps educate that many more! Cut and paste:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?

If your allergic child is starting school, check out the Resource page
at www.protectallergickids.com for free letters.

Another great source is www.allergykids.com.
On the right side of the page is "AllergyKids Safe@School Documents".
You can download the following items for free:

Download AllergyKids Safe@School Teacher Training Guidelines
Download AllergyKids Safe@School Program
Download a free Food Allergy Alert
Download a free Letter to Your Child's Principal
Download a free Letter to Your Child's Teacher
Download a free Letter to the Classroom Parents

--- In Protectallergickids@yahoogroups.com, "loriscottz2002"
<loriscottz2002@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Just a thought...Could you consider a database with columns for name,
> email, allergy info, possible other info, so members could contact
> each other for info based on allergy type (or any other info)?  I
> belong to an adoption yahoo group and we have a similar database with
> foster parent info.  It's handy to see if you have anything in common
> at a glance.
>
> Thanks for thinking about it.
>
> Lori Zuckerman
>
Lori,
Thanks for your suggestion.  I added the Database.  Have you seen the
web site www.protectallergickids.com?

Hi,

Just a thought...Could you consider a database with columns for name,
email, allergy info, possible other info, so members could contact
each other for info based on allergy type (or any other info)?  I
belong to an adoption yahoo group and we have a similar database with
foster parent info.  It's handy to see if you have anything in common
at a glance.

Thanks for thinking about it.

Lori Zuckerman