What was meant to be a nice night out on Bek Gillespie’s first holiday as a family with her two nine-month-old twins descended into a frightening situation when one daughter put her fingers into a bowl of dumpling sauce.<\/p>\n
“Within minutes her face turned red and blotchy, her eyes became itchy, her lips and tongue started to swell, and her whole face puffed up,” Ms Gillespie said.<\/p>\n
The new mother was witnessing, for the first time, an anaphylactic reaction.<\/p>\n
Almost one in three Australians now live with allergies, according to a new report by Deloitte Access Economics (DAE).<\/p>\n
For Ms Gillespie, the reality of that figure was frighteningly close to home.<\/p>\n
“It was terrifying,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It was one of the scariest moments of my life \u2026 and I had no idea what was happening.”<\/p>\n
It began an expensive journey of meetings with specialists and health professionals that has impacted every aspect of the family’s life.<\/p>\n
Those tests concluded Ms Gillespie’s daughter is allergic to egg, cashews or shellfish, with medical testing ongoing to determine any other allergies.<\/p>\n
“It impacts your day-to-day life. There’s so much fear and anxiety with everything you do,” Ms Gillespie said.<\/p>\n
“You’re constantly reading the food labels.”<\/p>\n
Just last night, she learnt that one popular brand of bread rolls contains eggs, while another doesn’t.<\/p>\n
“It’s all the little things like that,” she said.<\/p>\n
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Around one in 10 infants in Australia has a food allergy \u2014 the highest rate among children in the world.<\/p>\n
The DAE report says many people are managing at least two conditions at the same time.<\/p>\n
The report estimated that allergies cost Australia $18.9 billion annually because of health care costs, and productivity and efficiency losses.<\/p>\n
It was calculated that the non-financial costs, including factors such as pain and reduced quality of life, were $44.6 billion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Those with allergies that can cause anaphylactic reactions have to adjust to always carrying an Epipen and medication. (ABC News: Emily Anderson)<\/p>\n
And allergies are a growing problem in Australia.<\/p>\n
The one-in-three figure from the latest report is up from 19.6 per cent of Australians reported in the last national snapshot in 2007.<\/p>\n