Vaccine coming?
Dr. Oz answers a question about whether there soon could be a peanut allergy vaccine.
Q: I heard that there’s a peanut allergy vaccine in a clinical trial. Are they really that close to developing a vaccine?
— Armond G., Tallahassee, Florida A: We think you’re referring to a lab study that’s currently in the works, and the vaccine — or immunotherapy — is administered using a nasal spray. The researchers are experimenting with mice that are genetically altered to have a peanut allergy. They expose those mice to very small amounts of peanut dust or protein in an attempt to teach the immune system to gradually tolerate the substance and not overreact to it.
The trial works on the same principal as the LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut allergy) trial in 2015 that introduced 4- to 11-monthsold infants (with a high probability of allergy to peanuts; they had to have severe eczema, egg allergy or both) to about 6 grams of peanuts a week. After 60 months, they found that the prevalence of peanut allergy was reduced to 1.9 percent versus 13.7 percent from the control group that completely avoided peanuts.
Now, these kids were screened, monitored, tested and kept under strict supervision! Don’t ever experiment with immunotherapy on your child at home. Peanut allergy has doubled in Western societies in the past 10 years, and if a child has a bad/anaphylactic reaction to peanuts, it can be fatal. Access to an EpiPen in the case of an anaphylactic reaction can be a lifesaver, but it is still a very traumatic incidence. Roughly 150 to 200 people die in the U.S. each year because of food allergies. It’s estimated that around 50 to 62 percent of those were caused by peanut allergies.
Currently, there is no vaccine for peanut allergies (the mouse trials have seen only temporary results so far). And remember, even the best immunotherapy for kids still leaves two in every 100 vulnerable to serious problems.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Email your health and wellness questions to Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen at youdocsdaily@ sharecare.com.