Babies with peanut allergies will be offered a treatment program under a world-first model, which will include two Perth hospitals sites.
Ten paediatric hospitals – including Perth Children’s Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital — will work with the National Allergy Centre of Excellence to introduce a nation-wide peanut oral immunotherapy program.
Children will follow a carefully planned daily dosing schedule of peanut powder, taken at home, over two years
If successful, it is hoped more hospitals and private allergy clinics will adopt the program, including in regional and remote areas.
The ADAPT OIT program aims to change the way the most common food allergy among school-aged children is treated, from strictly avoiding peanut in diets to safely building a tolerance to the allergen and hopefully achieving remission.
The free program is only available to children under 12 months, diagnosed with peanut allergy, and who are receiving care by an allergist at one of the participating hospitals. The capacity at each hospital will depend on demand and resources. Those eligible will follow a carefully planned daily dosing schedule of peanut powder, taken at home, over two years.
Paediatric allergist Professor Kirsten Perrett, director of NACE, said the treatment would be offered as a new standardised model of care. This will be the first peanut allergy treatment program offered in Australian hospitals outside of a clinical trial setting.
“Oral immunotherapy is being variably implemented around the world using different approaches making it difficult to assess the results, including the long-term outcomes for children, their families and the health system,” Professor Perrett said.
“Under this Australia-wide model, a food allergy test at the end of the treatment will help determine if remission was achieved. These children will then be followed in routine clinical care for at least 12 months to help us evaluate the acceptability, safety and effectiveness, quality of life and long-term outcomes.
“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.”
Dr Michael O’Sullivan, Allergist and Program Lead at Perth Children’s Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, encouraged families who suspected their baby had a peanut allergy to first visit their GP.
“Australian guidelines recommend infants are introduced to common allergens, such as peanut in the form of peanut butter, in the first year of life,” he said.
“If you think your baby has had an allergic reaction to peanut, avoid that food and talk to your GP, who may refer your child to an allergist at one of the participating hospitals.”
Peanut allergy affects 3.1% of 12-month-olds in Australia and over two thirds of children with a peanut allergy remain allergic by age 10, according to MCRI-led research.
While on the program, children are prescribed an Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy action plan for anaphylaxis and adrenaline injector, and families receive a comprehensive education pack and have access to an allergist on-call.