Christine Desforges, 15, passed out after kissing her boyfriend, who had eaten a peanut butter sandwich some nine hours earlier. The Canadian teenager, from Saguenay, about 155 miles (250km) north of Quebec City, was given an adrenaline shot, a standard treatment for anaphylactic shock, almost immediately after she suffered a reaction, but doctors couldn't revive her and she died a few days later in hospital. Her 16-year-old boyfriend was unaware of her peanut allergy. Symptoms of the allergy can include hives, a drop in blood pressure and swelling of the face and throat that can block breathing. Around 100 people in the US die of food allergies every year, the majority from exposure to nuts.

BBC News, Times, 29 Nov 2005.