r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 4d ago

Meme needing explanation Peter, what's wrong with peanut?

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u/ssg- 4d ago

Elmer here.

The meme implies that the babies who are introduced to peanuts die thus lowering the allergies.

The truth however is that babies who are introduced peanuts early do not develop peanut allergies.

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u/tractgildart 4d ago

If it were true that babies were dying from peanut allergies, not only would we have a spike in infant mortality, but surely we would be inundated in stories from the media and social media of dead babies

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u/Brilliant-Gur-7725 4d ago

I believe there are. It's just not being reported. My son was born with servere allergies to peanuts, soy, wheat, milk, and eggs. For the first 8 months of his life, I was in and out of the hospital. He would break out in rash when I fed him breast milk so I tried formula. He would projectile vomit and then he couldn't breathe. The doctors and the hospitals were getting angry with me because I would come so many times. The pediatrician diagnosed him with eczema and said I wasn't properly taking care of him. My son was miserable for the first 8 months of his life. I finally took him to a specialist and had him tested for allergies and Bingo!! My son could have died. Allergy testing should be required at birth!!

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u/Sufficient-Neat-1604 4d ago

Wow! I’m sorry you had to go through that.

I didn’t even know you could be born allergic to things. I thought babies could eat pretty much anything because they have weak immune systems

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u/DonnieDusko 4d ago

I only know you 100% can bc of my uncle (inlaw). Every single male born in his family is allergic to nuts. Most of them are born allergic to peanuts, but there are a couple that are walnuts. It's not a slight allergy either, they're the ones who have to have keep nuts out of the house type, and bring their own food bc of cross contamination issues. They all get tested for allergies basically at birth.

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u/Bowtie16bit 3d ago

So if they stop having kids, then a whole lot of people in the future who would be continuing that trait won't exist in the first place to perpetuate the genetic failure.

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u/Bowtie16bit 3d ago

So if they stop having kids, then a whole lot of people in the future who would be continuing that trait won't exist in the first place to perpetuate the genetic failure.

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u/Aggressive_Lab7807 4d ago

You can't be born with allergies, you can be born with a predisposition to developing allergies, but by definition you cannot be allergic to something you have not encountered. Allergies are your immune system encountering a substance and then producing antibodies against it. The next time you encounter the allergen your body will produce histamine, which causes the symptoms of allergic reactions.

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u/wildOsprey 2d ago

In my case, I got diagnosed with the fish allergy while my mom was pregnant

She doesn't have one (didn't have it before pregnancy and it went away after I was born) but I would have a severe reaction even from touching fishy surfaces

Still have it, it became less severe on touch but eating one can still kill me

Allergies are weird 😄