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Novel Treatments for Established Food Allergies

  • Allergy (D Campbell, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of review

Current management of food-allergic children centres on allergen avoidance and emergency management of allergic reactions due to accidental ingestion. These measures minimise harm to patients, but the need for constant vigilance and dietary restriction may have a major long-term negative impact on quality of life.

Recent findings

Research has focused on searching for a curative treatment that can modify the natural history of disease. Both non-antigen-specific and antigen-specific immune modulation approaches have been explored. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) has drawn the greatest interest as a potential treatment for food allergy. OIT is effective at inducing desensitization; however, its ability to induce long-lasting tolerance or sustained unresponsiveness remains to be confirmed. There is growing evidence that the addition of immune-modifying adjuvants may enhance efficacy of OIT in inducing long-lasting sustained unresponsiveness. This article reviews recently published literature on this rapidly evolving field.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia

    Kuang-Chih Hsiao & Mimi L.K. Tang

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  1. Kuang-Chih Hsiao
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  2. Mimi L.K. Tang
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Correspondence to Mimi L.K. Tang.

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Conflict of Interest

Kuang-Chih Hsiao and Mimi L.K. Tang declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Allergy

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Hsiao, KC., Tang, M.L. Novel Treatments for Established Food Allergies. Curr Pediatr Rep 4, 178–185 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40124-016-0116-1

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