San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Reaction to fish protein may have been what killed boy, 11
NEW YORK — An 11-yearold boy who died on New Year’s Day after visiting family members in Brooklyn may have had a fatal reaction to fish proteins released into the air while his relatives cooked.
The sixth-grader, Cameron Jean-Pierre, had asthma and was allergic to fish and peanuts, his father, Steven Jean-Pierre, said Thursday in an interview with WABC.
They had been visiting Cameron’s grandmother in Brooklyn, where one of his relatives was making fish, and Cameron had an asthma attack, Jean-Pierre said.
Cameron’s father treated his son with a nebulizer, a device they had used many times in the past to deliver medicine to the boy’s lungs.
At first, it seemed to work, he said. But then Cameron’s condition worsened, and the family called for an ambulance.
Cameron’s father said he tried to do CPR, but by the time emergency workers arrived, the child was unconscious and unresponsive, police said. Emergency workers brought him to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.
“My son’s last words were ‘ Daddy, I love you, daddy, I love you,” JeanPierre told WABC. “He gave me two kisses. Two kisses on my face.”
Cameron’s mother, Jody Pottingr, suggested to WABC that the fatal reaction might have occurred when Cameron and his father returned briefly to the apartment to retrieve a forgotten item, at a time when his relatives thought the boy was gone. The family could not be reached for comment Friday.
The New York City medical examiner is performing an autopsy as part of its investigation, a spokeswoman for the office said Friday.
While the cause of death has not yet been determined, experts say Cameron’s combination of asthma and allergies could have been to blame.
“We would fully expect the coroner’s report will end up identifying this as a death from asthma induced by an airborne allergen,” said Dr. Robert A. Wood, a professor of pediatrics and the director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
It wasn’t the smell of the fish that would have produced the allergic reaction, experts said, but the proteins released by the cook- ing process.
Fish cooked on a stove could have sent steam and proteins into the air, causing an allergic reaction that would have set off Cameron’s asthma, Wood said.
For patients who experience a respiratory reaction to a food, such as coughing, hoarseness or wheezing, epinephrine is considered the drug of choice.
“Albuterol and other asthma medications are less likely to be effective,” Wood said.
Allergies to fish and peanuts like the ones Cameron had are some of the most common allergies in the United States.
A GoFundMe page gathering donations for Cameron’s funeral described him as “the best son anyone can ask for” with a personality that “always lit up the room.”