More than a third of infants previously diagnosed with peanut allergies were found to safely tolerate the food during subsequent testing. This suggests that a surprisingly high proportion of infants’ peanut allergies last less than one year, potentially freeing children from a lifetime of food restrictions and worry.
Tim Brettig at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne stated that being able to identify those children early allows them to avoid an "unnecessary allergy label and the burden of avoiding peanut."
Since 2024, Australia has offered free treatment to all babies diagnosed with peanut allergy under the age of 12 months. This treatment, overseen by 10 public children’s hospitals across the country, involves oral immunotherapy—a strategy where infants are fed small but gradually increasing doses of peanut flour over two years to try to desensitise them.
Before starting the programme, babies are required to undergo an "oral food challenge" to confirm their allergy and assess its severity. It involves feeding them gradually escalating doses of peanut flour on a single day under medical supervision to see how much they can tolerate. The total given is 2500 milligrams, equivalent to two teaspoons of peanut butter. Brettig, the medical lead of the programme, said this is "above the threshold where we’d expect all children of this age to react if they have an allergy."
However, of the first 778 babies with previously diagnosed peanut allergy who undertook the oral food challenge, 35 per cent did not react to any dose of the peanut flour. This was despite the fact they had previously developed rashes, swelling, hives or other signs of allergic reactions after consuming peanut-containing foods, and had skin prick or blood test results consistent with a peanut allergy. Brettig described this as a "surprising result," stating, "we expected a small proportion might pass the food challenge, but not 35 per cent."
The parents of these babies were given the good news that their child was no longer considered to have a peanut allergy and didn’t need to begin the oral immunotherapy programme. They were also assured that they could safely reintroduce peanut into their child’s diet at home.
