Australia launches peanut allergy immunotherapy program for babies in world first

Babies who have a peanut allergy are now being offered potentially life-changing treatment at hospitals across Australia in a world-first program aimed at building tolerance to them.

Babies who have a peanut allergy are now being offered potentially life-changing treatment at hospitals across Australia in a world-first program aimed at building tolerance to them.

It is the first time that a nationwide peanut oral immunotherapy program is being introduced into mainstream care anywhere in the world, according to the partnership between Australia’s National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI).

The ADAPT OIT Program is open to infants under 12 months who have been diagnosed with a peanut allergy and who are under an allergy specialist at one of the ten pediatric hospitals across five states which are participating.

The treatment, which will be free for those deemed eligible, will see patients receiving “a carefully planned daily dosing schedule of peanut powder, taken at home, over two years,” according to an announcement by MCRI.

The overall aim is to transform the approach to the allergy from one of strict avoidance of peanuts to safely building up a tolerance – and hopefully achieving remission.

“Ultimately, we want to change the trajectory of allergic disease in Australia so that more children can go to school without the risk of a life-threatening peanut reaction,” said Professor Kirsten Perrett, director of the NACE and population allergy lead at MCRI, said in the statement.

In a telephone interview with CNN, she described the new program, which is already underway, as “really exciting.”