More states across the nation are requiring schools to carry allergy medication for all students.
President Barack Obama recently signed legislation that asthma and allergy advocates have called a critical step in protecting the lives of children. The Washington, D.C., area leads the nation in severe allergy attacks in children, and this new law is designed to combat the issue. Only four states in the entire country- Virginia, Maryland, Nebraska and Nevada -that require all schools to carry epinephrine auto-injectors. There are several types of these medications, the most commonly used one being the EpiPen.
The law signed by President Obama encourages states to administer emergency medicine to children who are having an allergy attack, even if they have not been diagnosed with the disease or have a prescription for the drug. By giving the child epinephrine, a type of adrenaline used in these situations, the symptoms of the reaction will be reversed, allowing the child to stabilize before EMTs arrive.
"This is absolutely a great idea for children with life-threatening allergies," says Dr. Hemant Sharma, the director of the Food Allergy Program at Children's National Medical Center. Dr. Sharma estimates that 20 to 30 percent of allergic reactions that happen in schools occur in children that have not been diagnosed with allergies or asthma.
Allergic reactions can develop over the course of a lifetime, with a life-threatening episode coming seemingly out of nowhere. Such was the case with 7-year-old Amarria Johnson, a Richmond resident who suffered an allergic reaction to peanuts while at school. Johnson died in January 2012, and was the basis for Virginia's "Amarria's Law," which requires all Virginia schools to carry allergy medication, even for those students who might not be aware they need it.
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