New peanut allergy treatment works

Allergy experts at the University of Cambridge have convincing evidence that a new treatment for peanut allergies is effective, following a three-year trial. The trial, from the group of Dr Pamela Ewan of the Department of Medicine and conducted at Addenbrooke's Hospital, involved a careful regime of feeding chocolate containing peanut flour in - gradually increasing doses to patients with severe peanut allergies. Following on from a small clinical trial conducted in 2009, the allergy team carried out a larger trial involving 22 children. Before beginning the treatment, the children involved in the study reacted to tiny amounts of peanut. After treatment, 19 of 22 children were able to eat five peanuts a day; two had partial success - eating two to three peanuts a day; and one dropped out of the study at the start. Dr Andrew Clark, who led the clinical trial, said: "This is the first time that a peanut allergy study has shown such a high level of success and proves that it is possible for peanut allergic patients to eat peanuts without fear of a severe reaction." The children and teenagers attended the hospital's clinical research facility to undergo the desensitisation treatment, which still proved effective six months on. Peanut allergy is common, affecting between one and two percent of young children, and can cause severe or even fatal reactions.