Food allergies prompt teen to speak out on Capitol Hill

Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005

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by Peggy Vaughn

Staff Writer

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Marissa Astor, 16, a junior at Thomas S. Wootton High School, recently spoke to Congress about food allergies.

Marissa Astor, 16, of Potomac always thinks twice before she fills her plate at a party or orders from a restaurant menu.

What concerns Astor is the possibility the food may trigger a serious allergic reaction.

‘‘My food allergies have made me a very cautious person,” said Astor, a Thomas S. Wootton High School junior allergic to peanuts, sesame seeds and nuts harvested from trees, like walnuts.

Simple contact with a doorknob last touched by someone eating peanuts is enough to cause hives, she said. But consuming the foods puts her at risk of anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.

‘‘I used to be shy talking about my allergies because it made me feel different than others, but not anymore,” she said. ‘‘Communication is key to improving the life of children with food allergies.”

The issue drew national attention last month when a 15-year-old girl with a peanut allergy in Quebec, Canada, reportedly died after kissing her boyfriend, who had eaten a peanut butter snack.

Astor recently spent a day on Capitol Hill speaking out for the passage of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2005, a bill aimed at improving the safety of food-allergic students.

As an ‘‘ambassador” to the nonprofit Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FANN), she joined more than 70 school-aged children from 30 states who visited their legislators on Oct. 18 and 19.

FANN, a Virginia group advocating for an estimated 11 million Americans with food allergies, selected Astor for the mission based on an essay she wrote about living with allergies.

And having overcome her shyness on the subject, she won the support of U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist.8) of Kensington during a meeting at his Capitol Hill office.

‘‘I’m really proud that I was successful,” Astor said, holding up a copy of the bill that now includes Van Hollen as a co-sponsor. ‘‘I did a half-hour presentation on what it’s like to live with a food allergy and the goals of the bill. The amount of people with food allergies is doubling and we don’t know why. That’s why we want [the National Institutes of Health] to have more money for research.”

The bill would require the federal government to develop a model policy for schools to follow, on a voluntary basis, to better manage the risks of food allergies and anaphylaxis.

Linda Astor, Marissa’s mother, said the bill would go a long way toward improving public awareness of food allergies that result in nearly 30,000 emergency room visits, and some 200 deaths, each year.

‘‘About 40 percent of schools report having kids with food allergies, so having trained people and procedures in place is important,” she said. ‘‘You may only have 15 to 20 minutes before a kid goes into shock.”

Linda Astor speaks from personal experience.

After Marissa was diagnosed with allergies as an infant, she did every thing she could to prevent a reaction. She talked with her daughter’s teachers and parents of playmates, faithfully attended school and social events to make sure safe foods were available, packed her daughter’s lunch everyday, and scrutinized product labels and restaurant menus.

Despite those efforts, a couple of cookies eaten at a restaurant sent Astor to the hospital for a few hours when she was a fourth-grader.

‘‘She complained her throat was closing up, she was ice cold and shaking,” Linda Astor said. ‘‘Those cookies supposedly did not have nuts in them, so it could have been cross-contamination. That’s why we normally steer clear of Asian restaurants where sesame and peanut oils are used.”

As Marissa Astor grew older, she took on increased responsibility for her safety.

‘‘There’s always an element of risk anytime Marissa does not eat at home. She’s very good about it, though. She’ll often come home from an event and say she hasn’t eaten anything because she couldn’t be sure,” her mother said.

Marissa Astor now carries an EpiPen with her, a device that delivers a dose of epinephrine via a needle in a pen-like case.

‘‘There’s no cure for food allergies and a reaction can only be treated after the fact, not before,” Astor said. ‘‘Ideally, there will be a pill someday that prevents reactions. Until that day comes, it’s about communicating and how you advocate for yourself.”

For more information, go to www.foodallergy.org.