AlleRiC Study – Stage 2 – Call for Food Allergic Adult Volunteers

Earlier this year Anaphylaxis Ireland organised some focus groups for people with severe food allergies and for parents of severely allergic children, as the first stage in the AlleRiC (Allergic Reactions in the Community) project.  AlleRiC is part of the 4 year European research programme, iFAAM (Integrated approaches to Food Allergy & Allergy Risk Management).

The main aim of these focus groups was to get information about allergic reactions direct from people (or from parents of children) who had experienced them.  These discussions have now enabled the researchers at Cork and Manchester Universities, who are leading on this part of the research, to create an on-line questionnaire to record reactions.

The AlleRiC team are now looking for help from food allergic adults to ratify the on-line questionnaire (testing each question for sense and readability, for instance).

To help with this important 2^nd stage – please click on the newsletter below for information on how to participate via the email link to alleric@ucc.ie

 AlleRiC_Anaphylaxis Ireland_NewsletterNov2013

The 3^rd and final stage of this project is to recruit 50 – 100 volunteers (adults with severe food allergies) whose reactions can then be tracked, using this questionnaire, over a period of time. This information will be really important in helping the overall iFAAM programme make progress towards identifying the levels of sensitivity to food allergens in the population.  So in order to give the University research teams the best information possible, we need to make sure that the on-line questionnaire for recording incidences of allergic reactions is as good as it can be.

Food Allergen Alert Undeclared Peanut Ingredient

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland issued the following Allergen Alert on the 29th of August

Undeclared Peanut Ingredient in Batches of Rainbow Mixed Nuts

For full details see the link below

http://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/allergen_alerts/peanut_rainbow_mix.html

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Back to School Information

Managing Anaphylaxis at School

‘Managing Chronic Health Conditions at School’ is a resource pack for parents and teachers. Anaphylaxis Ireland, the Asthma Society of Ireland, Diabetes Federation of Ireland and Brainwave – the Irish Epilepsy Association came together to produce the resource pack to support and enable teachers and parents to work together to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for students with a chronic condition as they go through school. This resource pack contains a section on Managing Anaphylaxis at School.

This pack contains

• Practical information including an Emergency Plan on each condition for teachers and guidance on safe storage and safe disposal of medications at school

The resource pack is available to download here Managing Chronic Health Conditions at School

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AlleRiC Study – Stage 1 Completed

Anaphylaxis Ireland has been busy working on the AlleRiC study, which is part of the Integrated Approaches to Food Allergen and Allergy Risk Management (iFAAM) project. iFAAM is the world’s largest ever study of food allergies and involves experts from around the world.

The Irish component of the AlleRiC study is led by Dr Audrey Dunn Galvin and Prof. Jonathan Hourihane of University College Cork and is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Manchester, Anaphylaxis Ireland and the UK Anaphylaxis Campaign.

The aim of the AlleRiC study is to develop an on-line app, which will be used by allergic consumers to record information about allergic reactions in the community.

By providing a facility which will allow allergic consumers to record the details of their allergic reactions, the AlleRiC on-line reporting system will allow a more accurate, real time assessment of how, why, where and when, accidental allergic reactions occur in the community. This information will help the food industry, scientists and clinicians to gain a better understanding of the factors which lead to reactions in the community and should also help to identify the measures needed to reduce these incidents.

The first stage of the AlleRiC study gathered essential information from allergic consumers through focus groups, which allowed families and adults to discuss their experiences of allergic reactions and living with food allergy. The focus groups were facilitated by Dr. Dunn Galvin of UCC and brought participation from all ages, including teenagers and young adults. Focus groups were held in Cork and Dublin and also in Manchester and Liverpool, where they were organised by the Anaphylaxis Campaign.

The valuable information gathered will now be utilised in the design of the user interface for the AlleRiC on line app. We are very grateful to everyone who assisted the study by participating in focus groups and we look forward to the next stage.

iFAAM is funded by the European Commission under the FP7 programme.

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Children’s Workshop in Galway – Sept’14th

Anaphylaxis Ireland is holding a children’s workshop in Galway on Saturday, the 14th of September.

The workshop is for Primary School children from First to Fifth Class (6 to 11 years of age)

 Date: Saturday, 14^th September 2013

Time: 2.30pm – 4.30pm

Venue: Clayton Hotel, Galway

The aim of the workshop is to enable children to have fun while giving them the opportunity to:-

a)    Meet with other children who have similar allergies

b)    Provide encouragement for them to feel comfortable discussing their allergies

c)    Learn how to take some responsibility and ownership of their allergy

The children will participate in age appropriate, fun activities such as games, buying allergen free foods (pretend shopping), ordering food in a restaurant (role play),completing word puzzles, colouring in etc.

One parent/carer must remain at the workshop with their child.

PLACES MUST BE PRE-BOOKED    Please download and complete the booking form

For further information contact Mary on 0818 300 238, or email info@anaphylaxisireland.ie

Cost of the workshop is €5 - cheques  and completed booking form should be returned before 4^th September 2013 as places are limited

Your booking will be confirmed by phone on receipt of the completed booking form

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Allergy NI Young Person of the Year Award

The aim of the award is to encourage children and young people to raise awareness of Allergy N I which also raises awareness of allergies. Simply have your photo taken with the special Allergy NI poster and you could win £50

The child/young person entering does not have to have an allergy, nor be a member of Allergy N I.  Send in your photo (either hard copy or by email) together with the Allergy N I Entry Form by Friday 30 August 2013.

Full details are available at http://www.allergyni.co.uk/ypya2013.html

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Presence of Egg Protein in Orgran Gravy Mix Labelled as Egg Free

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland issued the following Allergen Alert on July 4th

Presence of Egg Protein in Orgran Gravy Mix Labelled as Egg Free
For full details use the link below :

http://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/allergen_alerts/Orgran_Gravy.html

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IFAN (The Irish Food Allergy Network ) launched

IFAN (The Irish Food Allergy Network) was launched in Dublin this week.

IFAN presented its vision for National Allergy Guidelines and Services at the launch of its Educational Website www.ifan.ie

Professor Jonathan Hourihane, Chairman of IFAN said “Health care staff working especially in the community are best placed to identify, diagnose and manage cases.  We need to aim to have much greater education, training and support for this in the community.  Allergy aware consultants are needed in regional units, trained, resourced and equipped to manage cases up to and including food challenge”.

IFAN has a wide membership and includes representatives from health care, food industry, medical science, statutory bodies and voluntary patient organizations. All members have a common goal in sharing knowledge & experience and working towards increasing awareness of food allergy.

Read the full details here

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