The Journal of Young Investigators: An Undergraduate, Peer-Reviewed Science Journal

08 November 2004 - Children who have outgrown a peanut allergy may lower their risk of recurrence by frequently eating peanuts or peanut products, according to a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

In the study, Dr. Robert Wood, pediatric allergist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and colleagues at Arkansas Children's Hospital evaluated 68 children between the ages of 5 and 21 who outgrew a peanut allergy. Each child’s family completed a questionnaire detailing the child's peanut consumption since overcoming the allergy. Twenty-one children were also administered an unidentified substance, either a peanut product or a placebo, and monitored for reaction.

"The exact mechanism by which peanut allergy may recur is not known, but we know that the children in our study who ate concentrated forms of peanut frequently had a considerably lower chance of having a recurrence of their allergy," says Wood.

Wood and his colleagues found that 43 children who ate peanut products frequently, and 13 children who ate in limited amounts but passed the oral peanut challenge, continued to tolerate peanut. In addition, three children who reported rarely eating peanut products experienced an allergy recurrence. The status of the remaining 18 was unclear children because they declined to undergo the oral peanut challenge.

An estimated 20 percent of children stop having allergic reactions to peanuts as they grow older, but do have a slight chance of recurrence. Few studies have been able to evaluate the rate of recurrence because many children who have had the allergy tend to stay away from eating peanut products.

"That [avoidance] is reasonable because there is a risk of recurrence and reactions could be worse," explains Wood.

The research findings will help families and medical professionals care for children who have outgrown a peanut allergy. Wood hopes future research will help identify patients who are truly at risk for a peanut allergy recurrence.

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