Aussie babies get peanut allergy therapy in world-first
About three in every 100 Australian children have a peanut allergy, which is usually treated by strictly avoiding nuts in meals.
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), to be the first globally to introduce a nation-wide peanut oral immunotherapy program into mainstream care.
Ten pediatric hospitals across five states have partnered with the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE),
NACE director Kirsten Perrett said “Under this Australia-wide model, a food allergy test at the end of the treatment will help determine if remission was achieved,”
Ten hospitals are suitable for the free program Children under 12 months, diagnosed with a peanut allergy and who are receiving care by an allergist at one of the participate.
The hospitals involved in the program are The Royal Children’s Hospital in Victoria,
Perth Children’s Hospital
Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia,
Queensland Children’s Hospital,
Women’s and Children’s Health Network in South Australia.
According to MCRI-led research Peanut allergies affect 3.1 per cent of 12-month-old’s in Australia and more than two-thirds of children with a peanut allergy remain allergic by the age of 10.
