Maintenance Peanut Oral Immunotherapy Effective for Preschoolers

TUESDAY, Dec. 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Maintenance oral immunotherapy is effective at one year for reducing peanut allergies in preschoolers, according to a study published online Dec. 2 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

Lianne Soller, Ph.D., from British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues assessed the effectiveness of preschool peanut oral immunotherapy (P-OIT) after one year of maintenance using data from 117 patients who successfully completed one year of P-OIT (300 mg peanut daily maintenance) and subsequently underwent a cumulative 4,000-mg follow-up oral food challenge (OFC).

The researchers found that 78.6 percent of participants had a negative OFC, while 98.3 percent tolerated a cumulative dose of greater than or equal to 1,000 mg. Among the 21.4 percent of participants who reacted, their threshold increased by 3,376 mg from baseline to follow-up. Grade 1 reactions occurred in 14.5 percent of patients, grade 2 in 6 percent, and grade 3 in 0.85 percent. Two patients received epinephrine associated with P-OIT, while one required the emergency department.

“Real-world peanut oral immunotherapy is effective in preschoolers who received the follow-up oral food challenge and should be considered as an alternative to current recommendations to avoid peanut,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text