Lone Star Tick Causes Meat Food Allergy

4/3/2017:  Lone Star Tick Causes Meat Food Allergy

The adult Lone Star Tick female is distinguished by a white dot or “lone star” on her back and adult females most frequently bite humans to transmit the disease. After the Lone Star Tick bites a person, the bite that contains the carbohydrate "alpha-gal" is transmitted as an enemy invader from the tick's previous blood meal, often a deer. The carbohydrate causes a negative reaction and subsequent allergy in the human body to the carbohydrate alpha-gal which is also present in beef, pork, gelatin (and medical substances such as IV fluid replacements, blood thinners, and replacement heart valves.) Once a person is bitten, their body sees all of these alpha-gal containing foods as enemy invaders, then attacks the invaders causing an allergic reaction. 

https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/wellbeing/this-tick-bite-can-make-you-seriously-allergic-to-meat

Epi-Pen Recall

3/20/2017: Epi-Pen Recall

The following batches of EpiPen® 300 Auto-Injectors are being recalled due to the potential that these devices may fail to activate or require increased force to activate.

Batch number		Expiration Date
5FA665		Apr 17
5FA6651		Apr 17
5FA6652		Apr 17
5FA6653		Apr 17

https://allergyfacts.org.au/news-alerts/latest-news/473-recall-of-epipen-300-20-march-2017

Auvi-Q Injector Available

2/14/2017:  Auvi-Q Injector Available

The Auvi-Q epinephrine injector that is smaller and rectangular shaped will be available again on 2/14.  Efforts are being made to make it cost effective if the family has insurance. Those with commercial insurance, including those with high-deductible plans or who make less than $100k annually, will be able to obtain Auvi-Q for $0 out- of-pocket according to the maker.  Else, the cash price is $360 for those without insurance or who earn more thank $100K.  

https://community.kidswithfoodallergies.org/blog/press-release-auvi-q-epinephrine-autoinjector-coming-back-in-february-2017-with-new-affordable-plan?utm_source=2016+KFA+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=00482554fd-eNews_Strides_2017_01_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c25c5cef21-00482554fd-95267589&mc_cid=00482554fd&mc_eid=19ad3b2eee

Peanut Foods for Infants

1/5/2017:  National Institute of Health Recommends for Peanut Foods for Infants

The National Institue of Health (NIH) recommends giving peanuts to infants in varying degrees based upon that child's risk.  Here are the 3 degrees but all should be under the supervision of a doctor: 

1. Guideline 1 focuses on infants deemed at high risk of developing peanut allergy because they already have severe eczema, egg allergy or both. The expert panel recommends that these infants have peanut-containing foods introduced into their diets as early as 4 to 6 months of age to reduce the risk.
2. Guideline 2 suggests that infants with mild or moderate eczema should have peanut-containing foods introduced into their diets around 6 months of age to reduce the risk of peanut allergy.
3. Guideline 3 suggests that infants without eczema or any food allergy have peanut-containing foods freely introduced into their diets.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-sponsored-expert-panel-issues-clinical-guidelines-prevent-peanut-allergy

Allergen Labels & Generic Epi-Pen

12/1/2016:  Adrenaclick Provides a Generic Epi-Pen AutoInjector

In light of the recent controversy about the high cost of the infamous Epi-Pen autoinjectors, there is a generic version on the market.  It is called "Adrenaclick" and can be obtained if your doctor includes "generic" on the prescription for epinephrine.  [1]

12/15/2016:  VITAL Allergen Labels

The United States may consider adopting Australian-based VITAL Allergen Labels.  VITAL stands for Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling and defines a way to standardize labels for allergen risks.  The VITAL program uses an Action Level grid to show, "Action Level concentrations (ppm) calculated using the Reference Dose (mg allergen protein) and a Reference Amount specific to the food." Download the PowerPoint. [2]

[1]  http://adrenaclick.com/what_is_anaphylaxis.php

[2] http://allergenbureau.net/vital/vital-science/