CLEVELAND, Ohio — A new study is looking into how Oral Immunotherapy in young children could help allergies in the future.
An estimated one in 13 children have food allergies, with nuts being one of the food groups that can cause some of the most serious allergic reactions in the US.
One of the most common causes of a severe allergy attack is peanuts, and these allergies can affect all aspects of a child’s life.
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“They can spend a lot of time worried about having a true allergic, life-threatening, allergic reaction, so it can be really difficult for these kids,” Dr. Sandra Hong, with Cleveland Clinic.
Hong says food allergies can lead to isolation, even bullying.
“We can’t have parties in the classroom anymore, or we’re not allowed to have the really fun treats anymore because there’s someone that has a milk allergy or a peanut allergy,” Hong said.
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Hong is one of the authors of the study researching how oral immunotherapy may help.
Researchers expose young children under the age of one who have been diagnosed with a food allergy to the food they are allergic to.
“We get very tiny amounts slowly built up into their system and we need to do it in our offices,” Hong said.
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Hong said that 91% of the children who took part in the peanut oral immunotherapy study ended up being able to tolerate large amounts of peanuts without a severe reaction.
The rest were still able to be exposed to multiple peanuts at a time, according to Hong.
Researchers believe that these children may not have to worry about accidental peanut exposure.
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“They are at an ice cream shop and they want to get ice cream but as long as they avoid the peanut-containing ones they’ll be able to tolerate small amounts of contamination,” Hong said.
They are studying oral immunotherapy to help with other food allergies as well.
Hong says that it is critical that oral immunotherapy is only done under the care of a trained allergist because it can trigger allergic reactions.