Within the last couple years, the paradigms for the evaluation of treatment of peanut allergy have changed. It was once thought that delay in introduction of highly allergenic foods would decrease the development of food allergies.
These recommendations changed after a landmark study in 2015 was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This study showed as much as a 70-86% reduction of development of peanut allergy in infants with either severe eczema or egg allergy, when peanuts were introduced at ages 4 to 11 months after a monitored food challenge in the allergy clinic.
More recently, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) published revised guidelines to suggest that if a patient has severe eczema, egg allergy or if there is a concern, to get evaluated by an allergist with testing for a potential observed food challenge to peanut in a monitored setting by ages 4 to 6 months. We recommend that if you have a child that fits these criteria or if there is any concern, that you should schedule an appointment with an allergist to be evaluated. For more information, click on the link: www.niaid.nih.gov
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