Food allergies affect as many as 32 million Americans, including 5.6 million children. That's approximately 7.6 percent of all children across the United States, including here in Virginia. And food allergies have been on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reported that food allergies in children rose by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. 

 

When a person is exposed to a food or insect sting that they are allergic to, they can have a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Symptoms may include hives, swollen tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, weak pulse, and dangerous drop in blood pressure. Epinephrine is the only medication that can halt these symptoms. Delays in giving epinephrine to a child experiencing anaphylaxis can quickly result in death.

 

Young children are particularly at risk of death from anaphylaxis because they are not able to tell a caregiver about the symptoms they are experiencing and are too young to self-administer auto-injectable epinephrine. That's why it is so critical to ensure licensed day care providers are trained to administer epinephrine to children in their care -- as well as other life-saving medications -- and that a trained adult is always with the children. It is equally critical that children experiencing anaphylaxis receive a weight-appropriate dose of epinephrine. Providing a child with too much epinephrine can also cause life-threatening symptoms.

 

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team -- founded to educate, advocate, and raise awareness for all individuals and families affected by food allergies and life-threatening anaphylaxis -- strongly supports Elijah's Law, including required training and awareness for licensed day center staff of what anaphylactic events look like for infants/toddlers and the requirement that these facilities carry stock epinephrine injectors and are trained to use them, meeting the requirements of § 22.1-289.059 of the Code of Virginia.

 

Thank you,

Eleanor Garrow-Holding
President & CEO