Abstract
Food allergies are on the rise and have a major impact on the quality of life of the food allergic child and their family. Currently, the mainstream treatment for food allergies is strict avoidance and elimination of the allergenic food(s) from the patient’s diet in order to prevent an allergic reaction. However, recent advances in research have presented new therapeutic options for food allergic patients that are potentially becoming promising alternatives to traditional treatment. Food immunotherapy is the most popular of these new emerging interventions and has been studied intensively over the last decade for various foods. In this review, we discuss this exciting new development that is aspiring to become part of the mainstream therapy for food allergy.
Highlights
Food allergies have been on the rise with some reports demonstrating a dramatic 50% increase in food allergies between 1997 and 2011 [1]
Rates of 20% resolution for peanut allergy and approximately 11% for tree nut allergy are reported in the literature [12]
It is important for patients to understand that like oral immunotherapy (OIT), sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is not a cure and tolerance can be lost if there is a prolonged interruption in treatment
Summary
Food allergies have been on the rise with some reports demonstrating a dramatic 50% increase in food allergies between 1997 and 2011 [1]. The most common food allergens include milk, egg, soy, wheat, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and seeds [3,4]. Egg, soy, and wheat immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergies can be outgrown [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. The current approach to managing IgE-mediated food allergies is strict avoidance of the causal food allergen and immediate treatment of allergic reactions that may occur due to accidental ingestion. Du Toit et al showed that early rather than delayed introduction of food allergens can help prevent the development of food allergies in high risk infants and promote oral tolerance [13,14]. For individuals where preventative measures are not possible (especially in individuals with an established food allergy), a safe and effective treatment for food allergies is urgently needed
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