THE number of children treated for life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods has more than doubled in five years, according to government research.

Figures from the Department of Health show the number of Adrenalin injections prescribed for children under six suffering severe allergic reactions rose from 15,100 to 37,235 between 1999 and 2004, an increase of 146%.

Symptoms of the reaction, called an anaphylactic shock, range from severe flushes to nausea, vomiting, wheezing and swelling of the throat and mouth. In the worst cases, sufferers choke to death. About 20 people a year die from the condition.

Jon Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and a member of the Anaphylaxis Campaign, a charity that lobbies for greater awareness of the condition, said: “These figures confirm what we have been saying for a while, which is that this is a growing problem. All the evidence points in one direction, which is a sudden and radical increase of anaphylaxis in the country.”

The increase remains largely unexplained but has been blamed on causes ranging from antibiotics to food additives and pesticides.

Research has found children are not born with allergy to peanuts and other nuts, but develop it in early childhood. Those who develop rashes and eczema in early infancy might be more vulnerable and some experts advise caution against bringing these children into contact with nuts at an early age.

Sufferers are liable to go into shock when they come into even mild contact with the substance to which they are allergic. These include peanuts, almonds, seafood and sesame. Bee stings and insect bites can also trigger attacks.

The body’s immune system malfunctions and releases chemicals such as histamine against substances it wrongly sees as a threat. Patients must quickly be given an injection of Adrenalin to bring their body back under control.

The figures show that, in addition to the rise in the number of injections for the youngest children, Adrenalin doses for adults and children aged seven and over went up from 35,900 to 79,900, an increase of 122%.

Each patient is typically given two doses of the drug to ensure they have at least one spare. The statistics, produced using data supplied by pharmacists, reinforce previous research.

In 2003, a study conducted by St George’s hospital, London, showed admissions for people suffering from serious allergies had jumped dramatically over the previous decade.

Earlier that year a report by the Royal College of Physicians also warned of a steep rise in allergies.

David Reading, director and co-founder of the Anaphylaxis Campaign, whose 17-year-old daughter Sarah died in 1993 after reacting to a peanuts in a dessert, said the government was ignoring the issue. “We are woefully short of trained allergists to deal with the explosion of anaphylaxis,” he said.

“Until now the Department of Health seemed to think there’s no need for drastic action. It is, however, now conducting a review of amenities in the country which, when it reports in the summer, will hopefully appreciate that the current services cannot cope.”

Lisa Blakemore-Brown, a child psychologist, said the research echoed anecdotal evidence she and colleagues had obtained. “When I qualified in 1984, anaphylaxis was almost unheard of, but now it is everywhere. One friend took his child, who suffers from it, to school and found there were half a dozen others with it,” she said.

Theories among medical professionals over the reason for the rise in allergies vary.

Dr Richard Halvorsen, a GP with a special interest in childhood vaccinations, said: “It could be the increased use of antibiotics, or the use of vaccines or pesticides, or additives in food. All of them have to be on the shortlist of suspects.”

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