Nut allergy – anaphylaxis management

This chapter presents a detailed case scenario of a four-year-old child Katie. Taking a child, young person and family-centred approach, it offers a comprehensive and accessible discussion of care planning with continuous reference to core principles and nursing values. Katie was diagnosed with atopic eczema at the age of one month, and asthma at the age of two years. Whilst attending a family wedding reception, Katie becomes distressed. Her parents take her home, and she gradually starts to feel better. The next day her parents contact their GP, who arranges for Katie to be referred to a specialist allergy clinic to be tested for suspected nut allergy. Diagnosis is based on clinical history, along with skin prick test, or quantisation of allergen-specific immunoglobulin E, and oral food challenges, when indicated in a specialist allergy clinic. Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening, generalised or systemic hypersensitivity reaction.