Australian children with potentially fatal peanut allergies will be provided with life-saving treatment under a nationwide program in a world first.
Announcing the initiative on Wednesday, officials said eligible infants will be given a daily dose of peanut powder for up to two years to boost their tolerance.
Over time, under the supervision of doctors at 10 pediatric hospitals across the country, infants will be given increasing doses in the hopes of reducing their sensitivity to peanuts.
Kirsten Perrett, chief of oral immunotherapy at the National Allergy Center of Excellence, said this is the first national peanut allergy treatment program offered in hospitals outside of a clinical trial.
At the end of two years, food allergy testing will determine whether the treatment has relieved the allergies.
“Ultimately we want to change the trend of allergic disease in Australia, so more children can attend school without the risk of a life-threatening reaction to peanuts,” Perrett said.
Earlier, families were asked to ensure that their children strictly avoided foods containing peanuts.
Australian children have the highest rates of food allergies in the world.
Government figures show three per cent of Australian children develop a peanut allergy by the age of 12 months.
Only 20 percent of them overcome their allergies by adolescence.
Nine-month-old Hunter Chatwin, who is in the free treatment program, started breaking out in hives after eating peanut butter.
“We are participating in this program to increase the chances of him eating peanuts safely in the future,” said Hunter’s mother, Kirsten.
“Many families are desperate to protect their children from allergies and anaphylaxis,” he said.
“Making this program available free of cost in public hospitals is a revolutionary step.”
If the programme is successful, it will be rolled out on a wider scale, including in regional and remote areas.
Deaths from peanut allergy are rare in Australia, but data from Australia’s leading allergy institute shows about 20 per cent of the population have allergic reactions.
It is estimated that this figure will rise by 70 per cent by 2050, affecting 7.7 million Australians.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
