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Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy, Ready for Prime Time? Heated Egg and Milk

  • ANAPHYLAXIS AND DRUG ALLERGY (DA KHAN AND M CASTELLS, SECTION EDITORS)
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Abstract

Cow’s milk and hen’s egg allergies are two of the most common food allergies that affect children, with an estimated prevalence of 2–3 % each. Persistence of food allergy into late teen years and adulthood is being increasingly recognized, possibly due to strict avoidance practices. Heating has been known to alter food allergenicity, and the majority of milk- and egg-allergic patients tolerate heated forms of those foods. Heated milk and heated egg have been increasingly studied as oral immunotherapy (OIT) for treatment of milk and egg allergy. While heated milk and heated egg have been shown to be safe in selected milk- and egg-allergic cohorts, larger studies are needed to predict which patients are optimal candidates for this strategy and to further clarify whether ingestion of heated milk or heated egg truly accelerates the onset of clinical tolerance to unheated forms of these foods.

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Conflict of Interest

Andrew Bird has received grant support from the Foundation of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and has served on the Speaker’s Bureau for Nutricia.

Matthew F. Feldman declares that he has 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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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Allergy & Immunology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA

    Matthew F. Feldman & J. Andrew Bird

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  1. Matthew F. Feldman
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  2. J. Andrew Bird
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Correspondence to J. Andrew Bird.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Anaphylaxis and Drug Allergy

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Feldman, M.F., Bird, J.A. Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy, Ready for Prime Time? Heated Egg and Milk. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 14, 436 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-014-0436-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-014-0436-6

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