Doctors have now come up with a new programme called I-Can that treats all allergies together

By Liang Hwee Ting

ABOUT 750,000 children, or one in two, below the age of 16 here suffer from an allergy of some sort that results in asthma, a runny nose or itchy skin.

And many of them are not coping very well with their conditions, say doctors.

For example, only one in five asthmatic children use long-term preventive medication, said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, consultant at the National University Hospital's Children's Medical Institute.

In time, they can overcome the problem and stop taking medicines. The rest rely on medication that provides short-term relief and their illness persists even when they become adults.

What complicates matters is that most school-going children between the ages of five and 16 do not suffer from just one allergic reaction.

About 11 per cent of children here suffer from all three.

To help these children manage their illnesses better, doctors at the Children's Medical Institute yesterday unveiled a new programme.

Called I-Can, it aims to help patients take better control of their conditions and lead normal lives.

Said Dr Goh: 'Unlike other programmes which only target asthma, I-Can treats all allergies together.'

So when a child goes to see his doctor for asthma, for example, he will also be tested for eczema and a sensitive nose.

A team of paediatricians, asthma nurses and dietitians will draw up a customised action plan for him so that he knows when to take his medication, how often, what to eat and how much exercise to do.

The programme will also treat children with food allergies.

The numbers are not huge - only 8 per cent of children below three and 5 per cent of school-going kids have strange reactions to certain types of food.

But those who suffer from it may experience asthma, diarrhoea, vomiting or migraine, which can be distressing, said allergist Hugo Van Bever.

In very severe cases, they may go into an anaphylactic shock, a condition where they wheeze, feel faint and get rashes on their body. In the worst-case scenario, they may die.

Young children here are typically allergic to eggs and cow's milk while older kids are allergic to seafood like prawn and crab.

Housewife Oh Guek Imm's three children have allergic reactions to nuts and seafood.

Her youngest son Emanuel, 11, reacted so badly to some processed macaroni last year that his face swelled up to twice its normal size and he could not breathe.

He is now enrolled with the I-Can programme where doctors did a skin-prick test on him to determine what he is allergic to.

His mother packs a lunch of milk and biscuits for him everyday.

'It's no fun eating certain foods only but I don't want to suffer all over again,' he said.