SoylentNews

RandomFactor writes:

A real world safety-study of peanut oral immunotherapy (P-OIT) for peanut allergies in preschoolers resulted in ~90% of study participants safely reaching the maintenance stage of the treatment.

We are the first group to describe preschool P-OIT in a real-world multicenter setting. The treatment appears to be safe for the vast majority of patients because symptoms were generally mild and very few reactions received epinephrine; however, life-threatening reactions in a minority of patients (0.4%) can still occur.

Oral Immunotherapy consists of a lengthy process

Oral immunotherapy starts off by giving a patient a small amount of the food [they are] allergic to -- in this case, peanuts -- and then steadily increasing the amount of that food until they reach maximum dosage. This works to desensitize the person to the food to the point that it doesn't cause a dangerous, allergic reaction.

The research was done at multiple clinics across Canada on children between 9 months and five years of age.

OIT is not a cure and requires ongoing maintenance to maintain desensitization to the allergen. If the maintenance dosage is stopped resensitization may occur.

Original Submission