A kindergarten student in Wenatchee, Washington suffered an allergic reaction last week after eating a treat from a bowl on his teacher's desk. The treat – a pretzel containing peanut butter – caused an allergic reaction. Thankfully, the student was not seriously injured, because the school nurse was able to treat him with a shot of epinephrine to reverse the reaction. According to Principal Patti Eggleston, who spoke to the Wenatchee World, the student had a health plan in place allowing the school nurse to administer epinephrine.
Eggleston said that the teacher had brought pretzels into the classroom from the teachers' lounge. The student apparently did not ask permission before taking a pretzel from the bowl. “I don’t think she ever expected a student to take it off the desk,” Eggleston commented. However, she added, school policy prohibits foods containing peanuts from being served at the elementary school due to the risk of allergic reactions. Eggleston said the incident will be the focus of an upcoming staff meeting.
Thankfully, the child has recovered from the reaction, but this incident serves as an important reminder to those whose children have food allergies. Make sure your children know not to accept food with unknown ingredients, and check with their school to make sure there is a health plan in place, so that your son or daughter can be given an epinephrine shot, if the need arises.
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