Severe Milk Allergy Reaction

A 15-year-old yeshiva student, who suffers from a milk allergy, was rushed to Schneider Children’s for treatment after mistakenly drinking cow’s milk.

The youngster opened the fridge at the yeshiva where he studies and took the bottle clearly marked “almond milk” to make himself a drink. But at the first swallow, he felt a tingling in his tongue and realized that the milk was regular cow’s milk and he was having an allergic reaction. He used the Epipen (automatic adrenalin injection) that he keeps on him, but collapsed afterwards and lost consciousness. His exposure to cow’s milk caused a severe allergic reaction, shock and respiratory distress.

His friends summoned paramedics who administered emergency first aid, and brought him to Schneider Children’s where he was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, headed by Dr. Elhanan Nahum. His life was saved due to the speedy attention he received and prolonged resuscitation efforts. After his condition stabilized, he was transferred to the general pediatrics department and finally discharged.

Dr. Nahum noted that “children who are allergic to milk can be in a life threatening situation. With this type of sensitivity, they must be made aware of their at all times for use in emergencies. In addition, parents, teachers and principals are responsible for these children within their environments and must be made aware of thesituation and keep milk products out of reach from these children. Similarly, products that contain milk should not be moved to other containers. Adults also need to know how to use the Epipen.”