Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy_cuY_RkOG/ Having peanut allergic children ingest powdered peanuts over a one year period allowed nearly 75% of them to safely tolerate a substantial amount of peanut protein when given as a challenge.  Just published in the New England Journal of Medicine is a phase 3, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study of 98 peanut allergic kids 1 to 4 years of age.  Only 2% of the children undergoing desensitization with the peanut powder suffered a serious or severe allergic reaction, and all were successfully treated. This oral immunotherapy is not a cure for peanut allergies.  It is intended only to avoid or reduce the risk of a severe or life-threatening allergic reaction should an individual accidently ingest peanut allergen.  The peanut powder used in this study is already FDA approved for treatment of children 4 to 17 years of age.  This study suggests that it may be safely used in younger children above the age of 12 months. https://evidence.nejm.org/doi/f