食物アレルギー 給食の事故防止を徹底したい

[The Yomiuri Shimbun] April 10, 2013
Strong measures needed to prevent food allergy cases occurring at schools
食物アレルギー　給食の事故防止を徹底したい（4月9日付・読売社説）

How can we prevent children with food allergies from experiencing allergic reactions during a pleasant lunch at school?
　学校での楽しい給食の時間に、子供の食物アレルギーによる事故をいかに防ぐか。

As a new term has begun at schools, school administrators are asked to do their utmost to ensure their safety measures for school lunches are flawless.
　新学期が始まったのを機に、教育現場は改めて給食の安全対策に万全を期してもらいたい。

Those with food allergies can develop such symptoms as eczema and respiratory difficulties if they eat certain foods, such as eggs, milk, wheat, peanuts, shrimp or crab.
　卵や牛乳、小麦、落花生、エビ、カニなど特定の食べ物を口にすると、湿疹、呼吸の乱れなどの症状が表れるのが食物アレルギーだ。

There are also life-threatening allergic reactions, such as a sudden drop in blood pressure or impairment of consciousness.
血圧低下や意識障害を引き起こし、命を落とす危険もある。

According to a survey taken by the education ministry, 2.6 percent of students in the country suffer from food allergies. This means almost one student in every class has a food allergy.
　文部科学省の調査によると、全国の児童・生徒の２・６％に食物アレルギーがある。ほぼクラスに１人の割合である。

There has been an increase in cases of students mistakenly eating food containing an allergen and requiring medical treatment. In fiscal 2011, such cases topped 300. Thoroughly implementing countermeasures is an urgent matter.
　給食でアレルギーの原因食材を誤って口に入れ、治療を受けるケースは増加傾向にある。２０１１年度には３００件を超えた。対策の徹底が急務だ。

Allergic reactions can be fatal

At a municipality-run primary school in Chofu, western Tokyo, a fifth-grade girl died in December last year after consuming dairy products she was allergic to.
　東京都調布市の市立小学校では昨年１２月、乳製品にアレルギーがある５年生の女児が死亡する事故が起きた。

A report compiled last month by a local board of education examination committee pointed out a series of mistakes on the part of the school.
市教委の検証委員会が３月にまとめた報告書は、学校のミスの連鎖を指摘している。

On the day of the incident, the school provided her with a special meal without cheese, to which she was allergic. When she asked for seconds, her teacher mistakenly gave her an ordinary portion containing cheese. The teacher should have checked the list of those foods she was not supposed to eat.
　学校は女児に、アレルギーの原因のチーズを除いたおかずを出した。だが、女児がお代わりを求めると、担任教諭はチーズ入りのおかずを配ってしまった。その際、担任は、女児が食べられない食材の一覧表を確認すべきだった。

When the student complained about feeling sick, neither her teacher nor a nurse gave her an injection, which could have mitigated her allergic reaction.
　さらに、女児が体調不良を訴えた時、担任教諭、養護教諭とも、アレルギーのショックを和らげる注射薬を打たなかった。

At the same school, another student had an allergic reaction during lunch three months earlier. Later the school conducted an instructional program on food allergies for teachers and other school officials. It is quite regrettable that the lesson was not learned.
　この学校では、３か月前にも別の児童が給食でアレルギーを起こし、その後、教職員向けの研修を実施していた。教訓を生かせなかったことが何とも悔やまれる。

To prevent such tragic incidents from recurring, it is important for schools to cooperate with students' parents and doctors and to have accurate knowledge of possible allergy symptoms of food-allergic children and take careful steps.
　悲劇を繰り返さないためには、学校が保護者や医師と連携して子供の症状を正確に把握し、きめ細かな対応をとることが大切だ。

With regard to measures to be taken for food-allergic students, a guideline was worked out in 2008 under the supervision of the education ministry. However, the reality is that schools differ from one another in how they deal with food allergies.
　アレルギー対策を巡っては、文科省監修の指針が２００８年に作られたが、学校ごとに、対応に差があるのが現状と言える。

Schools must be vigilant

It is important for every school to thoroughly take such fundamental measures as distributing in advance lists of school lunch ingredients to parents, while arranging special meals for students with food allergies.
　給食の食材リストをあらかじめ保護者に配布する。アレルギーのある子供用の献立を工夫する。各校がこうした基本的対策の総点検を行うことが重要である。

Parents also need to always remind their food-allergic children of those foods that they should not eat.
　保護者も日頃から子供に「何を食べてはいけないか」ということを繰り返し教える必要がある。

When a child suffers an allergic reaction to food, the initial response is crucial. Teachers and other school staff need to be trained so that they can administer an injection properly to someone having an allergic reaction.
　子供がアレルギー反応を起こした場合、初期対応がカギを握る。教職員が注射薬を適切に投与できるよう訓練を重ねるべきだ。

The education ministry will examine how schools across the country are coping with food allergy issues. We hope any problems can be cleared up to help to prevent further accidents from occurring.
　文科省は今後、全国の取り組み状況を調査する。問題点を洗い出し、事故防止につなげたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 9, 2013)
（2013年4月9日01時12分  読売新聞）