Aussie scientists 'unlock' deadly peanut allergy
Australian scientists are confident they’ve found a solution to the deadly peanut allergy affecting thousands of children.
Under a new trial, children with the deadly allergy are being fed ground peanuts mixed with a probiotic in a bid to alter the stomach to accept nuts, and not reject them.
According to the scientists, 80 per cent of children in the trial were able to tolerate peanuts by the end of the study.
Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia figures show three in every 100 Australian children suffer from a peanut allergy.
The figures also show just 20 per cent of those children outgrow the allergy.
“I’m worried all the time,” parent Leanne Reed said.
Ms Reed’s six-year-old son Matthew, who suffers from a peanut allergy, says he is hopeful his allergies will “go away”.
“You want to try anything and especially as a parent, do whatever it takes to give Matthew a good chance of being able to eat peanuts,” Ms Reed said.
“It would just be so much easier not to have to worry about it anymore.”
The new treatment aims to more feasible for more sufferers, without the lengthy hospital stays.
“I expect that this treatment can be available broadly to all children in the future,” professor Mimi Tang, from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, said.