People with allergies are everywhere. With so many potential allergens — pets, food, insects, mold, latex, pollen, medicine, etc. — the amount of people in the United States who react to these allergens is large and climbing.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), “Allergies are one of the most common chronic diseases” that “[occur] when the body’s immune system sees a substance as harmful and overreacts to it.”

Laura Salivar, South High nurse, said she deals with allergies on a regular basis.

“Our small population has a lot of allergies and we are only a group of 1800-ish,” Salivar said

Many allergies, common to unique, are quite severe and can be life threatening. For people with this severe of reactions, they must immediately seek medical attention. Anaphylaxis is a life threatening response to a severe allergy exhibiting symptoms such as a constricted airway, irritated skin and intestines, and irregular heart rhythms.

Senior Ethan Sparkman has had a severe peanut allergy since he was in elementary school.

“Before I figured out I was allergic, I would just get sick if I ate anything with peanuts. Over time though, my allergy has gotten more severe and if I ate peanuts now I would probably die,” Sparkman said.

Sophomore Emily McLaughlin is allergic to tree nuts, a category that includes almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, coconuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, and pine nuts.

She says that her biggest concern is tree nut oil. She has to avoid most Chinese restaurants because they use a lot of it in their dishes.

“When I was super little I ate tree nuts and couldn’t breathe. I had to go the hospital and that was when I found out that I am allergic to tree nuts,” McLaughlin said.

30% of adults and 40% of children in the U.S. have some form of allergy

Adults along with teenagers can have severe and life threatening allergies.

English teacher Nicole Daniels’ husband has several allergies and the worst is to peanuts.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, his allergy to peanuts is a 7. It is severe enough that if left untreated he would probably die,” Daniels said.

His allergy affects their whole household. Daniels said that they have to constantly check food labels and call restaurants. Also, her and her daughter never eat peanuts because they cannot contaminate their house with peanut oils.

Because of the growing severity of allergies, schools including Parkway have to take precautions concerning allergies. The Parkway District has implemented a new food protocol in hopes to keep schools safer for students with allergies.

Another step the District has taken is to publish some ingredient lists of foods sold in the cafeteria so students can be aware of foods they might need to avoid.

“Ingredients are listed online to the main menu things. However the other vendors cannot say they are free of any allergens. Even the snack bar is not allergy free,” Salivar said.

For the complete story go to psouthtreaty.com.