‘Now we have options’: the scientists trying to cure our allergies

Potential drivers of the rise in prevalence of allergies include a lack of childhood contact with dirt. Photograph: RESO/REX

A severe food allergy is among the few conditions that can propel a person from robust health to unconsciousness within minutes, and the risk of accidental exposure often casts a shadow of anxiety over those affected.

But change is afoot, with a groundbreaking trial this week showing that two-thirds of adults with severe peanut allergies can be desensitised through clinically supervised daily exposure. The approach – oral immunotherapy – is already successfully used in children and is among a wave of treatments on the horizon aimed at reducing the burden of allergies – and potentially curing them.