Peanut allergy: one in five children achieved lasting remission after oral immunotherapy, study reports

Seven in 10 young children with peanut allergy achieved desensitisation after two and a half years of treatment with immunotherapy, a US trial has reported,1 although the effect waned over time, with just one in five still in remission 26 weeks after treatment ended.

Peanut allergies affect 2% of children in western countries and are one of the most common causes of food related deaths in the UK. Standard care is dietary avoidance and access to self-injectable adrenaline (epinephrine), although a new treatment called Palforzia, containing peanut protein powder, was recently made available to about 600 children in England.2 …