Mahmut DOĞRU, Ülker ÖNES, Mehtap YAZICIOĞLU, Ufuk BERBEROĞLU, Mahir CEYLAN, Pinar GÖKMİRZA ÖZDEMİR

The assessment of teachers’ knowledge and schools’readiness about food allergy and anaphylaxis in a Northwest city of Turkey

Aim: To investigate teachers’ knowledge and preparedness of schools about food allergy and anaphylaxis in elementary schools inEdirne city.Material and Methods: The study was performed as a cross sectional survey study. Questionnaires were answered by 560 teachers,all of them were working in 35 public elementary schools in Edirne. In addition to questions concerning food allergies, teachers wereasked about their attitudes in the case of a life-threatening food-induced allergic reaction. The presence of a nurse or other trainedpersonnel, an action plan for management of anaphylaxis, and/or epinephrine availability and use in these schools in the case ofsuch a reaction were also evaluated.Results: The vast majority of teachers (97.3%) reported they had not been informed about food allergies, and only 19.1% stated that“shock” may be related to a food allergy situation. Only 4 schools (11.4%) employed a nurse. Examination of school drugs cabinetsrevealed no epinephrine in any school, and none of the students were found to carry epinephrine autoinjectors. Furthermore, none ofthe schools had an emergency action plan related to food-induced allergic reactions.Conclusion: The current study revealed an urgent need to inform elementary school teachers of Edirne about food allergies and theirtreatment and to improve access to emergency treatments and action plans.

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