Anaphylaxis cases at Canberra emergency rooms highest in four years

Figures from ACT Health show there was an almost 60 per cent increase in the number of patients at both Canberra Hospital and Calvary Hospital suffering from anaphylaxis in 2016 compared to the previous year.

Last year, there were 139 patients at both hospitals with anaphylaxis, up from 87 in 2015, with the most common allergy coming from food.

Since 2013, the number of people admitted to Canberra hospitals as a result of severe allergies has risen by more than 95 per cent.

While the number of cases slightly declined in 2015 compared with 2014, the increase in the previous year has been the largest in the ACT in the past four years.

Children made up just more than one-quarter of all anaphylaxis cases in 2016.

However the number of children admitted to hospital last year doubled compared to 2015, up from 18 to 36.

Dr Katrina Randall from Canberra Hospital's Department of Immunology said the increase in the number of cases of serious allergies was similar to the rise happening nationally.

"If we look at Australia-wide data, there's an increase of allergies and anaphylaxis in Australia as well as other first-world countries," she said.

"That's been something that's been happening over the last five to 10 years."

She said while there's no clear reason for the large increase in anaphylaxis cases in 2016, there can be variations in patient numbers.

"Often we find in something like this that the patients presenting can be Canberra residents or visitors in the area from interstate," she said.

Alyssa Krause's five-year-old son Jude was diagnosed with being allergic to peanuts and tree nuts after suffering from anaphylaxis just after his first birthday.

The Kaleen resident said Jude was rushed to hospital after eating a small amount of peanut butter.

"The first time he ate it, there was no reaction, but the second time he got hives all over his body and his lips got swollen," she said.

"It was lucky that it was summer and he had a singlet on so that we saw the rash that was moving all through his upper body and we then took him to a hospital."

Following the anaphylactic incident, Ms Krause now constantly carries around an EpiPen in case Jude suffers from another allergic reaction.

While she's never had to use it, she said monitoring situations to make sure they are entirely nut free can be difficult.

"Obviously their whole life changes because it's something very serious, and you have to watch everything that goes in their mouth," Ms Krause said.

"Schools can't be nut free but they can be nut aware, so schools try to get the message across about allergies."