When Lesley Solomon's son was 10 years old, he was standing in an unlucky spot on the playground when a schoolmate kicked over a cup of hot chocolate, sending droplets flying into the air. For the young boy with a severe milk allergy, the hot liquid splattering was less of a hazard for him than the dairy stirred into the drink.
Solomon's son quickly washed the fluids off his clothes and skin, took some Benadryl, and called his parents. But on the car ride home, his throat began to close and his pulse raced. It was one of about a dozen times he has needed an epinephrine injection, which increases blood flow, reduces swelling, and reverses anaphylaxis.
"Until you see a child going through that anaphylaxis and not being able to breathe, or throwing up so much that they can't breathe, you don't understand" how serious food allergies can be, said Solomon who is senior vice president and chief innovation officer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and cofounder of the Food Allergy Science Initiative, an independent nonprofit that funds food-allergy research.
The rate of children hospitalized for food-induced anaphylaxis rose by 25% from 2006 to 2012 — from 1.2 to 1.5 per 100,000 — according to a
