Wherever Ruth Hawkins goes, the four year-old Ontario girl travels with two adrenalin injections that will help save her life if she encounters peanuts.
"Even if we head downtown to get the mail, we take her EpiPens," explained her father Curt Hawkins during an interview yesterday from the family home in St. Marys, Ont.
Mr. Hawkins and his wife, Joanne, are constantly researching their daughter's life-threatening peanut and tree-nut allergy, looking for answers. However, recent medical news emerging from a hospital in Cambridge, England, about a promising new treatment for peanut-allergy sufferers has brought them little hope.
The research, which was published in the journal Allergy, involved four children with severe peanut allergies.
Mr. Hawkins said it would be unthinkable for him and his wife to submit their daughter to such a risky experiment. He believes more research needs to done.
The father of four said as recently as last fall, Ruth, who turns five in June, was tested by a specialist and had a severe allergic reaction within seconds of being exposed to a tiny amount of nut extract.
"We are preparing for the fact that she will probably live with this for the rest of her life," Mr. Hawkins said.
However, others, including Laurie Harada, executive director of Anaphylaxis Canada, are optimistic that the Cambridge study is the start of an important breakthrough for people who must constantly guard against coming into contact with certain foods.
"Yet it's really important for people to recognize this is the early stage of research, and this study is small," she added.
Joel Doctor, an allergy specialist at the University of Calgary, said any attempt at desensitization for food allergies comes with dangers.
"So this must be done in a very, very controlled setting in which there are facilities and equipment to manage anaphylaxis," the doctor explained.
He said the primary aim isn't to find a cure but instead to build up resistance and change the amount of exposure required to trigger an allergic reaction to certain foods.
In Canada, many schools and public places, including sports venues, have set up "peanut-free zones" to help people with allergies avoid peanut products.
A person with a peanut allergy can experience anything from a mild reaction such as hives, to swelling in the face, to life-threatening anaphylactic shock.
The Cambridge study is being followed up and has been expanded to include 18 more people aged 7 to 17.
