A new study has shown that egg oral immunotherapy (eOIT) treatment allows some patients to safely eat eggs for 5 years.
The study is from a team at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies.
Previously, scientists have found that the condition usually appears in early childhood.
It could have a dangerous risk for allergic reactions and influence the quality of life for children with the allergy.
Moreover, the allergy sometimes does not go away with age, and many people still suffer from it in their second decade of life.
In the present study, the researchers examined if an egg oral immunotherapy could help treat the allergy.
They tested 55 children aged 5-11 who were allergic to egg. Among them, 40 children received the treatment and 15 children received the placebo.
The treatments lasted up to four years, and the children were tested for their sensitivity to eggs.
The team found that children with the treatment could eat 10 grams of the pure egg without an allergic reaction.
After the treatment, the researchers recommend adding scrambled, fried or boiled egg and baked egg into the diet of children who did not show allergy when stopping the treatment.
The researchers followed up the health of these kids for 5 years and found that these children could eat eggs safely.
The researchers suggest that eOIT is a safe way of treating children and youth with egg allergy.
They also suggest eating egg may actually shorten the amount of time a patient has the allergy so adding any amount of eggs into an allergy patient’s diet may be helpful.
The study lead author is Edwin Kim, MD.
The research is presented at the annual American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) conference in San Francisco.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
