Majority of School EpiPens used for First-Time Reactions:
Posted over 9 years ago by Patricia Endsley
Good Medscape article.
Majority of School EpiPens used for First-Time Reactions:
"Following national and local legislation, Chicago Public Schools was the first large, urban US school district to begin stocking undesignated EAIs for the treatment of acute allergic reactions. Undesignated EAIs are those which are not prescribed for specific students but are kept by schools for use in emergencies. During the inaugural 2012 to 2013 academic year, 38 doses were issued, primarily (92.1%) to students, 63.2% of whom were in elementary schools and 36.8% in high school. School nurses administered most of the shots (76.3%), and 911 was called in 81.6% of cases.
Surprisingly, the rate of first-time EAI use was 55.0%, which is more than double the previously published estimates of life-threatening allergic reactions and anaphylaxis among schoolchildren with no prior history."
"Prior research indicates that 20%-25% of children experience their first allergic reaction in school, potentially because it is their first exposure to the food-allergen trigger," the authors write, pointing out that timely EAI administration is a child's first and primary line of defense to such an event. Of children with a known food allergy, only 25% to 28% have access to their EAI at school. Additionally, 30% of school nurses have reported using one student's prescribed medication to rescue another student in distress," the authors write."