Things You'll Need:
- Epinephrine for severe allergies
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Step 1
Be on the lookout for symptoms to occur anywhere from minutes to hours after ingesting egg products. While skin-related symptoms such as hives, rashes or swelling around the mouth tend to manifest quickly, gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting, cramps, diarrhea and nausea may not appear for a few hours.
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Step 2
Consider that your child's persistent runny nose, sneezing and wheezing may be symptoms of an egg allergy, not a long-lasting cold. Many egg-allergic children exhibit respiratory symptoms that can be mistaken for mere colds or asthma.
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Step 3
Avoid both the yolk and the whites of the egg. Though the albumen (white) of the egg contains more proteins that can potentially trigger an allergic-histamine reaction and is more commonly the culprit in an egg allergy, the yolk also contains potentially allergenic proteins.
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Step 4
Discount literature stating that an egg allergy can't be life threatening. While it is true that severe egg allergy symptoms are rare, there are some people who are tremendously allergic to eggs-- so much so that even the fumes of the egg can cause a harmful reaction. In this case, the allergic person needs to carry a shot of epinephrine with them to administer in the case of anaphylactic shock (a dangerous swelling of the throat that interferes with breathing).
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Step 5
Talk to your doctor or your child's pediatrician so you know what foods to avoid. While some children may only need to avoid eggs, others may need to avoid all egg-derivative products, such as mayonnaise and marshmallow.
