MONDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Children with lower baseline peanut-specific IgE antibodies and smaller skin prick test wheals at age 2 are more likely to outgrow their allergy, and peanut oral immunotherapy is safe and effective in reducing systemic allergic symptoms, according to two studies presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology annual meeting in San Diego.
Katie Allen, M.D., of Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues analyzed data from 267 peanut-allergy patients who were followed at one- to two-year intervals. About 18 percent became tolerant to peanuts and those patients had lower baseline median peanut specific IgE antibodies and smaller skin prick wheals at age 2.
In the second study, Scott David Nash, M.D., of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and colleagues treated eight children with peanut allergy using a three-phase plan, including a build-up phase of daily doses and a daily maintenance phase of up to 18 months. Seven children tolerated the food challenge dose conducted at the end of the study. One subject had mild allergic symptoms. In the initial phase, most had mild symptoms and some had more significant, systemic symptoms.
"Peanut oral immunotherapy is safe and effective for decreasing the risk of a significant reaction with peanut ingestion," Nash and colleagues write.
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