Australian babies with peanut allergies will be offered oral immunotherapy in a world-first program.
Ten pediatric hospitals across five states have partnered with the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE), hosted at Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), to be the first globally to introduce a nation-wide peanut oral immunotherapy program into mainstream care.
About three in every 100 Australian children have a peanut allergy, which is usually treated by strictly avoiding nuts in diets.
The free program aims to safely build a tolerance to the allergen and hopefully achieving remission.
Those eligible will follow a carefully planned daily dosing schedule of peanut powder, taken at home, over two years.
Professor Kirsten Perrett, pediatric allergist and director of the NACE, said unlike other clinical trials, the treatment would be offered as a new standardised model of care.
"Under this Australia-wide model, a food allergy test at the end of the treatment will help determine if remission was achieved," Prof Perrett said on Wednesday.
"Ultimately, we want to change the trajectory of allergic disease in Australia so that more children can go to school without the risk of a life-threatening peanut reaction."
The Chatwin family first noticed their son, Hunter, showing signs of being allergic to peanuts when he ate peanut butter and developed hives at the age of six months.
Hunter, now nine months old, has been referred into the program at The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
"We are taking part in the program to try and improve his chance of being able to safely eat peanut in the future," Hunter's mother Kirsten said.
"Many families are desperate to protect their children from allergic reactions and anaphylaxis.
"Some are travelling interstate or even overseas for treatment at private clinics, so to have this program available and free at public hospitals is a game-changer."
While on the program, children are prescribed an anaphylaxis action plan, adrenaline injector, a comprehensive education pack and have access to an allergist on-call.
HOSPITALS ELIGIBLE BABIES CAN BE REFERRED TO:
* The Royal Children's Hospital in Victoria
* Perth Children's Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia
* Queensland Children's Hospital
* Women's and Children's Health Network in South Australia
* Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, John Hunter Children's Hospital Newcastle, Campbelltown Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in NSW.
