Update on Food Allergy and Flu Vaccine

My egg allergic son successfully received the flu vaccine for the first time. No reactions at all! The better news is that our allergist told us this would be the last time we needed to worry about egg protein in the flu shot. There was only a small amount of protein this year, and next year there will not be any, according to her conversations with various manufacturers of the vaccine.

This is great news for everyone with an egg allergy!

In other news, our allergist shared that the office will begin peanut desensitization sublingually this December. She said that milk and egg desensitization should be ready in the office in a year or so. The process involves placing a liquid or tablet under the tongue every day to get the body accustomed to the protein. The therapy can be administered at home, with occasional trips to the office when protein amount is increased.

I'm feeling so hopeful about all of this! There have been many successes with SLIT (Sublingual Immunotherapy) in research studies, and some offices around the country have begun successful programs as well.

Truly, it has been my dream for there to be no need for my food allergy blog and website. I'm getting closer to being put out of business and I couldn't be happier for my food allergic child and the millions of others with food allergy.

In the meantime, I'll keep writing and we should all stay vigilant to keep those with food allergies safe.

Fund A Cure for Food Allergies

This month, FAAN is again participating in the Pepsi Refresh contest. The group is asking for $250,000 to find a cure for food allergy. If this idea makes it to the top two ideas, we all win! It is currently ranked 59th. Your vote is needed. The vote of your parents, friends, neighbors, entire e-mail distribution list is needed. Imagine what a quarter of a million dollars for food allergy research could do!

You can vote every day all month. Please go to the Pepsi Refresh contest and vote today. Or you can text 104004 to Pepsi (73774). Then tweet it, FB it and get the word out to others. Anyone can vote. The contest ends November 30.

Last month, FAAN asked everyone to vote for Camp TAG, food allergy summer camps, in the Pepsi Refresh contest. Camp TAG didn't win, but since it made it to the top 100, there is still a chance for it to get it into the top two this month.

Food Allergy Study Turns Off Allergic Reactions in Mice

Can the body be trained to tolerate proteins that cause food allergy reactions? Researchers at Johns Hopkins are one step closer to answering that question. They have found a way to turn off food allergy responses in mice. By feeding a modified food protein to food allergic mice, scientists discovered that the immune system was able to tolerate the offending food. Within five days, the mice were able to tolerate the food in an unmodified form!

Pretty cool, huh?

Researchers are now looking to see if there is an implication for humans. Check out the full article in Science Daily.

I love to read about this kind of progress and remain hopeful that this is another piece of the puzzle leading toward a food allergy cure.

Food Allergy Cure With an Apple a Day?

The Journal of the British Society for Allergy & Clinical Immunology reports on a promising study with implications for food allergy. Egg allergic mice were fed a polyphenol-enriched apple extract and then underwent a food challenge for egg. The results showed the apple extract reduced allergy symptoms. A polyphenol is an antioxidant that occurs naturally in some plants and tends to prevent or neutralize the damaging effects of free radicals.

The role of polyphenols is also being studied in peanut allergy.

I don't claim to understand it, but I like it. The hope is for human trials to be conducted after the positive results of the mice study.

Food Allergy Research

Professor Yoshinori Mine of the University of Guelph (Ontario Canada) has promising results from his study to provide a safer approach to dealing with allergies in children. In his clinical research using mice, Professor Mine found that mice ingesting only the peptide portion of egg protein, rather than the entire protein, were able to tolerate increasing amounts of egg. The body, over time, learned to accept the protein, rather than react against it.

looking ahead, the plan is to begin to introduce this technique in human clinical trials and develop a way the peptide can be administered orally.

“I would like to find a way to incorporate the peptide into foods such as cookies so it will be appealing to young children.” said Professor Mine.

I continue to feel confident that this path toward desensitizing our children to their food allergens will lead us to more answers and better solutions. The current medical advice of "avoid the offending food in all forms" isn't good enough. I am encouraged by Professor Mine and others who are trying to come up with better solutions for us.

Check out the full article for more information.

Largest Food Allergy Study Set to Begin

After a promising pilot study, doctors at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge will begin a government-funded immunotherapy trial next month. A similar study was conducted in the 1990's. It yielded serious consequences. The difference this time, explains researchers, is that rather than receiving injections of peanut protein, those in this study will receive increasing amounts of peanut flour mixed in yogurt.

It is important to note that this study will only involve children. There will be a therapy and a control group. The control group will think they are getting peanut protein, but will in fact receive a substance of another type.

Researchers think the children will need to continue this immunotherapy process for 2-3 years.

Of course, it can not be stressed enough that this should not be tried at home.

I continue to feel grateful to families who participate in studies like this. Because of these participants, I feel confident that a cure is on the horizon.

Check out the full article.

Curing Food Allergies in the Allergist's Office

I spoke to our allergist last week. She told me of research to take what has been learned through desensitization studies at hospitals like Boston Hospital and transfer those procedures to doctor's offices. This would mean going to the allergist's office every day (perhaps this is done over summer break or every day after school) for increasing amounts of the offending food. The patient would be monitored for an allergic reaction before being sent home.

The original hope was to be able to desensitize at home like we currently can do with allergy drops for environmental allergies. There are concerns about the risks, though, which is why plans are moving forward for instead desensitizing in the physician's office. Our allergist was optimistic that this would be available in the next 2-3 years.

How great would this be. While I realize desensitization hasn't worked for everyone, it does work for many and offers a real solution for a cure.

A cure...that continues to be my Christmas wish and I'm more hopeful than ever.