Cacahuètes et amour ne font pas bon ménage…

Kiss steals the life of a girl with an allergy
Christina Desforges, a Canadian teenager allergic to peanuts actually lost her life after she stole a kiss with her boyfriend who had just consumed a peanut-based snack. The allergy that affects just over a percent of the population caused the 15-year old to go into anaphylactic shock despite an immediately administered adrenalin shot. The girl eventually died four days after the lethal kiss of respiratory failure.

A resident of Saguenay lying to the north of Quebec, the girl was known to be allergic to peanuts among family and relatives. However it appears that her boyfriend was not aware of the seriousness of this problem and as a result became instrumental in Desforges death. Despite an adrenalin dose and rushing her to a Quebec hospital, the allergic reaction was far too strong for doctors to treat. Dr. Nina Verreault of Chicoutimi Hospital in Saguenay who was to perform an autopsy on Desforges body suggested her case as being “very rare and worrisome”.
Food related allergies have been on the rise in recent years with peanut allergies being particularly high. In America at least 1.5 million suffer adverse reactions to traces of peanut that appear in their bloodstream through food or cosmetic lotions, with anywhere between 50 and 100 dying as a result yearly. Though the reasons for this rise are unclear, one study has pointed to a link between the use of baby creams and lotions with a peanut oil content in early childhood and allergies that arise later.

The symptoms of food allergies range from minor reactions such as rashes, vomiting and diarrhea to more severe reactions like swelling of the face, throat or body, gasping and falling blood pressure. The reactions are usually dependent on the quantity of the allergen ingested and the person's own history of reactions to casual contact. Karen Sigman, a paediatric allergist suggests that even traces of peanut on the tongue and lips are sufficient to cause such a reaction in a person who is severely allergic. She stressed that in such cases it is of paramount importance, "They (allergic youngsters) tell the people they are close to make sure they are not in contact with nuts or peanuts".

In most cases of allergy, an immediate adrenaline shot is the standard tool to treat anaphylactic shock while hospitalization serves to monitor the patient's progress or control recurrent attacks. The Montreal Children's Hospital peanut allergist, Rhoda Kagan citing instances of severe reactions to peanut dust said, “Some people have an extremely low threshold (which) varies greatly from person to person and is highly unpredictable”. For now it appears that Christina Desforges' death is a case of a severe allergy and a failure to take it seriously by letting people close to her know and help her steer clear of peanuts.