To lessen sensitivity, qualifying babies will receive daily dosages of peanut powder that increase progressively over the course of at least two years, under the supervision of specific pediatric hospitals.
Although oral immunotherapy has been used in clinical studies and in a few specialized allergy clinics worldwide, this is the first time that a countrywide model of care for peanut allergies has been implemented.
Australia is known as the “allergy capital of the world” because one in ten newborns there have a food sensitivity diagnosis.
Approximately 3% of Australians suffer from a peanut allergy by the time they are 12 months old, and unlike other food allergies, few children grow out of it.
Assistant Minister for Health Ged Kearney stated, “[This] might be the game changer we have all wanted to stop this terrible allergy in its tracks.”
Only infants under the age of one year who have received a diagnosis of peanut allergy and are receiving medical attention at one of ten participating hospitals nationwide are eligible for the free program.
Tim Brettig, the program head, told the news that each child’s dosage regimen will be meticulously calibrated until they achieve a “maintenance dose” that they will stick to for two years.
