UAE couple urges more understanding of food allergies after son suffers reaction

Adam Eita, 6, suffered an allergic reaction to a sesame bun at a children's party in Sharjah.

Adam Eita is allergic to all tree nuts, sesame, chickpeas, peanuts and cucumbes. He shows off his medical wrist band, which he never takes off. Pawan Singh / The National

DUBAI // Parents of a young boy rushed to hospital after suffering an allergic reaction to sesame seeds say health workers displayed an alarming lack of knowledge in how to treat him.

Adam Eita, 6, was at a children’s party at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club when his father Mohammed noticed that burgers were being served in buns with sesame seeds.

He quickly took Adam from the room but the boy went into anaphylactic shock.

Adam had been tested for nut and seed allergies after suffering a mild reaction as a baby, and his parents carry an epinephrine pen loaded with adrenalin to administer in case he has an adverse reaction.

His parents said they were shocked when paramedics arrived at their lack of knowledge as to how to help Adam.

“Adam was having difficulty breathing and his eyes were watering,” said his Syrian mother Ghadeer. “He asked for the epipen, which we gave him and called for an ambulance.

“The paramedics started taking his blood-sugar levels, despite my husband telling them Adam was not diabetic.”

The couple had been told by their family doctor that the boy should be admitted to hospital and monitored for at least four hours after an attack, in case his blood pressure suddenly dropped and he suffered secondary reaction.

They waited for an hour to be seen at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah but no doctors were available, so they took him to Medcare Hospital in Al Safa, Dubai. Nurses were equally baffled, they said.

“Despite us telling them Adam was in anaphylactic shock, the ER nurse didn’t understand what was wrong,” Mrs Eita said.

“It’s not the first time this has happened to us in Dubai. There is a big misunderstanding of allergic reactions here.

“They can be fatal for someone like Adam.”

Their son was treated with antihistamines and steroids but had a second mild reaction two days later.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention did not comment on the incident, while Medcare said it was investigating but could not comment owing to patient confidentiality.

Food allergies occur in between 3 and 5 per cent of children, with most parents unaware symptoms can be life-threatening. Usual symptoms are swelling, hives, lowered blood pressure and dilated blood vessels. In severe cases, a person will go into shock.

Paediatrician Dr Michael Loubser, medical director at the Infinity family clinic in Dubai, helped to develop Canadian guidelines for managing life-threatening childhood allergies.

“Most people have the perception that food allergy is the cause of minor discomfort. In fact, it is as serious as having a heart attack,” he said.

“Once families are educated about the severity, they tend to take it seriously.”

Worried parents can have their child’s condition diagnosed at an allergy specialist. Fatal outcomes are usually the result of a delayed dose of adrenaline.

Dr Loubser said every child should be provided with some sort of anaphylaxis action plan.

“The general level of knowledge on food allergy is poor but this is not isolated to the UAE,” he said. “Worldwide, clinicians believe that they understand allergy because it is so common, yet the intricacies of its management are often missed.”

Different foods can cause varying degrees of reaction, with peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish allergies tending to be more severe than reactions to cow milk, for instance.

Dr Loubser believes avoidance of foods in a child's early years has led to an increase in food allergies. A peanut study in a large group of high-risk children conducted by The New England Journal of Medicine showed early exposure to peanut versus complete avoidance lead to an almost 10-fold reduction in eventual development of peanut allergy.

At Blossom Nurseries in Dubai, staff are trained to administer adrenaline via an auto-injector should a child go into anaphylactic shock.

“My daughter, who has a peanut allergy, is the only one with an epipen at the moment at the nursery, and I always carry two dosages with me,” said nursery director Chantal Ariens.