Our son's 20 allergies are so complex he has to travel to the US for regular treatment

A 10-year-old boy has 20 complex allergies, including seafood, coconuts and cats, and has to visit the US regularly for life-changing treatment.

After travelling 5,000 miles (8,046 km) every 12 weeks for the past 18 months, Yann Jennings has gone from not being able to have nuts in the house to eating some types daily.

Mum Katie Hutt, 46, is hoping Yann will be in remission by the time he is in secondary school after enrolling on an allergy elimination programme in California, which costs them £30,000 a year.

She said the NHS in the UK could not help her son's "complex" allergies, while the Welsh government said all people "deserve timely access to the services and support they need".

Katie said Yann will miss 18 months of school in total while completing his four-year treatment plan in the US.

The family stay there for around a week at a time every three months, with the family teaching Yann and sister Mai, eight, themselves when they miss school.

Some experts believe similar help is available in the UK via the private sector, but agree provision needs to be improved on the NHS.

"I learned from joining allergy groups on Facebook and learning from other parents whose kids already had anaphylaxis [allergic reactions], what it could potentially look like," Katie said.

As a baby, Yann had severe eczema and at six months, blood tests showed he was allergic to milk, peanuts and eggs.

But "some trial and error experiences" allowed the family to find many more allergies.

These included dairy, ⁠wheat, ⁠tree nuts, ⁠coconut, seafood, red fish, ⁠pulses and beans, kiwi, sesame, ⁠dogs, cats, horse, ⁠pollen, flaxseed, ⁠chia, poppy seed, buckwheat, millet, peas, chestnut, quinoa, rye, oats and ⁠pumpkin.

Katie described how Yann would "flare up" if he was in a room with any of his allergens.

He also felt safer being outdoors or with the windows open all the time.

But in terms of treatment, Katie said: "By the time he was three, we'd exhausted all options in Wales.

"We were told he's too complex, he's too high risk."

Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that can happen suddenly and very quickly, according to the NHS.

It occurs when the body's immune system wrongly identifies a food or substance as a threat.

This can be caused by food, medicine or insect stings.

Symptoms can appear within seconds, and include swelling of the throat, wheezing, coughing and difficulty breathing.

UK-wide data shows more than 25,000 hospital admissions annually for allergies and anaphylaxis in England - double the number seen 20 years ago - with roughly 1,000 in Wales.

Up to 4% of preschool children and 2.4% of UK adults live with food allergies, according to charity Anaphylaxis UK.

While hospital admissions for severe allergic reactions have surged, fatalities are "exceptionally rare", happening in less than 0.001% of cases.

Katie, a businesswoman from Cardiff, and husband Neil Jennings, 49, applied for Yann to attend a medical trial in London for peanut allergy in toddlers when he was three.

Although he improved, the trial finished.

Yann then started oral immunotherapy treatment, but this caused other issues, so doctors agreed they should stop it.

In August 2024, the family visited a not-for-profit clinic in California running a pioneering allergy elimination programme.

Yann was given his first bespoke treatment plan, which takes four years to complete, and it is hoped will make him allergy-free.

He is given tiny amounts a protein that is a close relative to the allergen.

The dose is adjusted every 12 weeks by doctors, with Yann continuing to take small daily doses to keep the progress going.

This is aimed at increasing his tolerance over time.

"It's quite full-on, it's a huge commitment in terms of time and effort but it's incredible having seen him go into shock so many times [before]," Katie said.

Katie said his allergies are no longer airborne - meaning they can be inhaled - since starting the treatment 18 month ago.

Because of this, Yann is not isolated from his friends at school.

"He can actually sit next to people eating other things and it's completely fine," she said.

Yann is now enjoying life, has a grey belt in jiu-jitsu, and also likes swimming, playing golf, and cycling.

"He's now able to live much more than he ever has been able to," she said.

Prof Adam Fox from the National Allergy Strategy Group said management of food allergies "has advanced tremendously in the last 10 to 20 years".

"Sadly, NHS provision of these options is extremely limited so in the UK, very few people will have access to these and when they do, it is often through clinical trials rather than regular clinical practice," he said.

"However, all of these options are fully available in the UK in the private sector. Some families chose to travel to the US, often because they do not realise that such treatment is available privately in the UK."

Dr Douglas Jones is co-founder of the Food Allergy Support Team, a nonprofit collaborative of hundreds of allergists across the UK, Europe and further afield.

He said: "Treatment in the US has evolved substantially beyond strict avoidance alone.

"Evidence-based options now include oral immunotherapy (OIT), sublingual immunotherapy, and biologic therapies such as Omalizumab, though access still varies significantly based on geography, specialist availability, and financial resources."

Katie said OIT can work for some severe allergies, but is not suitable for high-risk "complex" children such as Yann, with a history of anaphylaxis across many foods plus severe asthma, hayfever and eczema.

She believes there is no "viable alternative" in the UK for Yann.

Most of the costs for the US treatment are travel-related, and the family are hoping to raise £20,000 of the £30,000 annual cost through fundraisers.

The UK government said it is committed to improving care for people with allergies, and life-saving allergy pens must be stocked by schools in England for the first time from September.

"The move will also see compulsory training for teachers and a requirement for each school to have a dedicated allergy policy," said a spokesperson.

The Welsh government said local health boards are responsible for the planning and delivery of allergy services, and those living in Wales "deserve timely access to the services and support they need".

All schools have been issued with statutory guidance which covers record keeping, storage and administration of medicines, emergency procedures and staff training requirements to support children and young people with healthcare issues, including allergies.

Cardiff and Vale health board and Public Health Wales have been asked to comment.