The babies will receive daily doses of peanut powder for two years. This is to be done to establish tolerance, according to an announcement from the Australian authorities.
Over time, the dosage must be increased. The hope is that hypersensitivity to peanuts will be reduced. The treatment program will be carried out under the auspices of doctors at ten children’s hospitals in Australia.
This is the first national treatment program against peanut allergy offered in hospital and which is not just part of clinical trials, says Kirsten Perrett at the Australian National Allergy Center of Excellence.
After the two years, tests against food allergies must establish whether the treatment has been successful, or whether there is a setback.
– We want to change the outcome of allergic disease in Australia so that more children can go to school without risking life-threatening peanut reactions, says Perrett.
If the program proves successful, it will be rolled out to also include regional and more remote parts of the country.
The incidence of food allergy among Australian children is among the highest in the world.
3 per cent of Australian children have been diagnosed with a peanut allergy by the time they turn one, official statistics show.
#Australia #starts #treatment #peanut #allergy #babies
2024-08-01 14:40:03
