Helping kids break free of peanut allergies

A recent study led by a researcher at UVA Health offers new hope to children with peanut allergies, finding that a desensitization approach that’s been successfully tested in clinical trials is also safe and effective in a real-world clinical setting.

Headed by Jonathan Hemler (Med class of ’11), a pediatric allergist, the study of the effectiveness and safety of early-age peanut oral immunotherapy (epOIT) involved 27 children ages 6 months to under 3 years old.

The research team gave the children peanut protein powder in a clinic, and caregivers gave them the powder at home between visits. Over the course of the study, the amount of powder was gradually increased in the clinic, and all patients reached the maintenance dose of 500 mg—the equivalent of two peanuts—daily. 

Most children had no side effects, while others had mild, easily treated rashes or hives. After a few months of the therapy, one patient accidentally ate about 3,000 mg of peanut protein, or about 40 Reese’s Pieces, without an adverse reaction. 
In the end, nine patients graduated to the last step in which they were allowed to eat peanuts freely. The results suggest that the therapy could change the course of the disease for these children. 

“There appears to be a window of opportunity when starting epOIT at younger ages is safer and more effective at achieving desensitization than if it is started in older ages,” Hemler said. 

Hemler and his team of researchers plan to continue the program, adding more patients and testing more foods, such as tree nuts and sesame.