Calgary Allergy Network

AAIA has excellent full-colour brochures on anaphylaxis, peanut/nut allergy, egg allergy, dairy allergy and dust/mold/pet allergies in English and French on their web site.

Health Canada "It's Your Health" / Votre santé et vous fact sheets

"It's Your Health" is a series of timely fact sheets published by Health Canada. Subscribers to this notification service will be informed via email whenever a new It's Your Health fact sheet is available on the Web.

Food Allergies Fact Sheet

Allergies alimentaires

" Votre santé et vous" est une série d'infofiches publiées par Santé Canada. Les abonnés au service seront avisés par courriel aussitôt qu'une nouvelle infofiche Votre santé et voussera disponible sur le site Web de Santé Canada.

About the Anakit
The Anakit (syringe with epinephrine) has been discontinued in Canada. The closest equivalent is the Twinject auto injector, which combines an auto injector for the first dose with a syringe for the second dose.

About the EpiPen®
The official EpiPen® web sites (marketer/distributor of the EpiPen®) are epipen.ca (Canadian) or view epipen.com. Canadians and Americans can sign up for an expiry date reminder program. Epipen® trainers (no medication or needle) are available in Canada from AAIA.

EpiPens® - Common Mistakes in Using One (off-site)
Shows pictures of common errors people make in using an auto-injector. Get a trainer and practice! practice! practice! If you ever need to use it, you'll feel much more comfortable and you'll do it right.

Origin of the EpiPen®
Here's a short paragraph about how the EpiPen® was developed sent to me by Shel Kaplan, listed as the primary inventor. This story has not been independently verified.

Oral Food Allergy Syndrome (AAIA)
This syndrome is an allergy to certain raw fruits, vegetables, seeds, spices and nuts causing allergic reactions in the throat and mouth. Not usually life-threatening.

Botanical List of Food Families
Cross-sensitivities among plant families is an evolving field of interest. Ever wonder why your peanut-allergic child hates peas? They are in the same food family! He/she may be sensitive to peas as well as peanut or they may just not like them. Birch pollen allergies are been linked with various tree nut allergies. Gives various common North American foods and their related food families.

"Anaphylaxis in Schools & Other Settings" Manual
"L’anaphylaxie à l’école et dans d’autres milieux"
This manual provides anaphylaxis basics and recommendations for anaphylaxis management. Published by the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (allergists' professsional association). Replaces the CSACI 1995 Consensus statement.
There are two ways to get the manual:
~ View/print excerpts from Allergy Safe Communities or Sécurité Allergie
~ Order from AAIA for $15 plus shipping & handling.

Anaphylaxis: A Handbook for School Boards
Anaphylaxie: Guide à l'intention Des commissions et conseils scolaires
An excellent resource published by the Canadian School Boards Association. Everyone in the school community has a role and responsibilities for ensuring a safer environment for children with life-threatening allergies. Includes a legal perspective, list of roles and responsibilities, posters and letters you can use as templates to send to parents. Donate a copy to your school, health unit and public library.

Download here.

(English)

(français)

A Guide for Parents/Students with Anaphylaxis (AAIA)

Guide pour parent/eléves au sujet de l'anaphylaxis

Food Allergies: Managing Risks at School (AAIA)

Living in this world entails risks. It's unavoidable. How do we identify and manage the risks for our food-allergic children at school? You can send your child to school and not go crazy every day with worry!

Cleaning Up Peanut Allergen Residue - Research

Frig Magnets Master ( WORD document)

Use this master to create magnets to hand out to your child's classmates (ask for teacher's permission first).
Can be changed for any allergy.
Encourages parents to call you if they have any questions about food. A gentle reminder for your classmates.
1. Buy a set of business card sized magnets from your office supply store
2. Revise and print out the labels on bright paper
3. Cut the labels out
4. Stick the labels onto the magnets.
5. Hand out to the class in September - work with the teacher.

Sample message:

XXX-free snacks for Mrs. Smith's class
If you have any questions about snack ingredients, please feel free to call [name] at
555-9999.

Tips for Lunch Packers

Produced by the Calgary Health Services Nutrition Division and offers excellent alternatives for everyone's lunch. It is written for the general public with good nutrition in mind. It does not deal with food allergies so adjust for your own needs so please no emails about the fact that is has peanut butter included.

Food Restrictions in Schools (AAIA)

Promising Practices in Special Education Articles
An excellent series of articles published by the Alberta Education Special Education Branch.

Life, Liberty and peanut butter?

A thought provoking article on the community's responsibility to provide for people with disabilities, specifically those with anaphylaxis. By Isabel Grant, a Canadian law professor.

Peanut Allergies: A Medico-Legal Perspective

Published by EduLaw, The Education Law Reporter, Vol 7, No. 9, May 1996
By Joel Doctor, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C) Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Elaine Doctor, B.Ed., M.A., LL.B., Barrister and Solicitor.

School Support Articles Menu
This menu lists a variety of documents such as: help for organizing a school support group, lesson plans and school activities involving food.

Duct Cleaning - Fact and Fiction - off site article
CMHC home English Type in Duct Cleaning in Search box.
CMHC home French
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has lots of great articles. Just enter "air quality" in their Search box and you'll get a big list.

Asthma and Ozone/ Air Cleaners - off site articles
"Ozone is a potent lung irritant and exposure to elevated levels is a contributor to the exacerbation of lung disease. Residential indoor ozone is produced directly by ozone generators and indirectly by ion generators and some other electronic air cleaners. "
Some good articles from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EPA site - Publications
EPA site - Ozone, ozone generators and air cleaners review

The AAIA web site has excellent full-colour brochures on peanut and nut allergies in English and French.

Peanut Allergy -- What You Need to Know

L'allergie aux arachides - Ce que vous devez savoir
A great article detailing the factors which contribute to fatal peanut reactions and the lifestyle adjustments which must be made. Applicable to other life-threatening allergies as well.

Peanut /Soy Allergy
Dr. Antony Ham Pong has graciously allowed us to reproduce his handouts on several topics (see also milk, egg allergy). They are quite thorough in their content.

Tree Nut Allergy
Dr. Antony Ham Pong has graciously allowed us to reproduce his handouts on several topics (see also milk, egg allergy). They are quite thorough in their content.

CBC peanut allergy research article
CBC, our Canadian broadcaster, has a number of peanut allergy articles which can be found by doing a search on their web site.

Up to 20 per cent of people who had a peanut allergy as a child may end up outgrowing their reaction. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University report some people can go from worrying about a severe or even fatal reaction to eating peanut butter sandwiches without a care in the world. The study, published in the February 2001 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, looked at a group of 223 people with a well-documented peanut allergy.
The patients, aged four to 20, were tested for their reaction to peanuts... and, their allergy histories were taken. The volunteers then underwent skin testing... also measured the level of peanut specific IgE in the patients' blood. Those who met specific criteria, were then invited to eat some peanut protein. One hundred and twenty-six patients were eligible for this stage of the testing. Of the 85 who agreed to participate, 48 had no adverse reaction. So over 20 per cent of all the children studied had lost their allergy.
Webmaster note: Research is continuing. Our daughter has outgrown her allergy - we hope it's permanent.

Peanut Allergy: Where Do We Stand?
This evolving page is located on the Association of Allergists and Immunologists of Quebec web site. It summarizes the research from the latest publications and is updated as new information is obtained from the medical literature, meetings,etc. It has become quite large and loosely organized. They also have a number of other excellent articles on their public pages.

Canadian Food Labelling Laws: When is a label not a label
This article was written by Dr. Antony Ham Pong and Marian Zarkadas, a retired food specialist at Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. The laws and guidelines regarding labels are constantly under evaluation and change.

Reading Food Labels for Milk Ingredients
Here are some common ingredients which indicate the presence of milk. In Canada, dairy can also be included on a label as "spices" or "flavourings" without being listed specifically as milk (I hope this changes). There are also a few ingredients with the word "lactylate, lactate or lactic acid" which are additives not derived from milk.

Reporting a Food Reaction due to Mislabelling or Contamination
In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for many aspects of food safety and regulation. If you have a food reaction due to possible mislabelling of food or contamination due to cross-contamination with other foods or bacterial contamination, contact the Agency to make a complaint. They will investigate the complaint and take action if needed.

AAIA has excellent full-colour brochures on egg and dairy allergies in English and French on their web site.

Facts on Food Hypersensitivity to Egg
This article is from the now defunct Allergy Asthma Association of Alberta from 1987. However, I think much of the information is still useful. Includes a list of names that egg is listed under in ingredients labels, substitutions and their effect on the product, and a list of specific foods to avoid.

Facts about Hypersensitivity to Corn
This article is from the now defunct Allergy Asthma Association of Alberta. It's dated but still relevant. Corn is still heavily used in just about everything.
See Links page for more Corn allergy web sites.

30 Second Asthma Test
Think your asthma is under control? Take the test and see how you fare.
Courtesy of Asthma in Canada.

Asthma - Breathtaking News (AAIA)

L'asthme - Nouvelles époustouflantes

Originally published in November 1999 and reviewed in July 2009 by an AAIA Regional Coordinator for accuracy and current information. No changes were necessary. A summary of the then most recent drug introductions and a good overall description of how to manage your asthma.

Peanut allergy may not be permanent Last Updated: Friday, February 9, 2001 CBC News

Peanut allergy may not be permanent
Last Updated: Friday, February 9, 2001
CBC News