Last week, a group of Spanish pediatricians and allergists from the Spanish Society of Clinical Immunology, Allergology and Pediatric Asthma (SEICAP) and the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC), presented the first World scientific guide on oral food immunotherapy, for overcome early both cow's milk allergy (APLV) and egg allergy.
The results of this Guide, are added to the success that is obtaining the method applied in the Miguel Servet Hospital of Zaragoza to cure APLV in infants, and of which we already talked to you a few days ago.
Early exposure, key to curing food allergies
As far as food allergies are concerned, the traditional medical current that has prevailed in all this time was that of prevent the allergic child from coming into contact with food that caused him to react, and wait for him to get spontaneous tolerance over time.
This measure has led many families to avoid for months or even years - as is my case - the allergen food in question. But when it comes to a food as basic and present in the diet as milk or egg, the anguish that generates the risk of inadvertent or accidental contact is enormous.
"The avoidance diet can pose serious problems for the quality of life of allergic children and their families, as it is not so easy to follow given the presence of these foods in many processed products" - warns Dr. Martorrell coordinator of the Guide on oral food immunotherapyAccording to data from SEICAP and SEAIC, up to 85% of children with cow's milk allergy reach spontaneous tolerance before three years of age, while egg allergy is exceeded by 65% of children before 6 years.
After these years, if the child has not reached tolerance spontaneously, he would enter a program of oral oral immunotherapy, with two important issues to consider:
On the one hand the age of the child. In the case of APLV, the child would start these programs at around 3-4 years of age and in case of an egg allergy he would start at around 6-7 years.
This involves many years of avoidance of food or allergenic foods, with the risks of accidental exposure that this entails.
The Guide on oral immunotherapy to food from SEICAP and SEAIC, together with the method that Miguel Servet Hospital is carrying out, opens a new way of curing food allergies that has nothing to do with the traditional current carried out to date."As the child advances in age the chances of reaching tolerance decrease until they disappear. The persistence of food allergy is a major alteration in the patient's quality of life, especially during the period of schooling, with continuous limitations and risks in school canteens, which produces a strong emotional and social impact due to the feelings of frustration, rejection, insecurity or even anxiety of the child and families "- explains the Dr. Elena Alonso, member of the scientific committee of the Guide.
This time we talk about expose the child to the allergen food prematurely, through the introduction scheduled under medical supervision and in increasing doses, of the allergen food to achieve desensitization.
He Doctor Luis Echeverría, coordinator of the Food Allergy Working Group of SEICAP, does not explain in detail the impact that this new form of "cure" of food allergies has for allergic children.
"Studies carried out by experts have shown that the sooner oral immunotherapy begins to foods to which the child is allergic, the better prognosis of cure has"
"We talk about a long process that begins with very low doses that are gradually increasing and weekly in the hospital. The average duration of this tolerance treatment is around 140 days "- says Dr. Echeverría.
But not all children are fit To perform this type of process, they are only indicated in cases of IgE-mediated allergy.
"The prognosis of spontaneous cure of non-IgE-mediated allergies is usually very good, except in exceptional cases. In addition, it occurs in a short space of time so it makes no sense to apply oral immunotherapy in these cases."
Cure the APLV and egg, and the rest of food allergies?
Between 4 and 8% of the child population suffers from food allergy and the foods that cause it most frequently are eggs, milk, nuts, fish, shellfish, legumes and fruits, in that order, according to SEICAP.
The reactions caused by egg and cow's milk are the most frequent in the first years of life and also those that cause more problems due to their continued presence in our nutritional habits.
"The work we are doing is a great hope for the cure of food allergies, because it is intended that oral immunotherapy be an alternative to the avoidance diet of milk or egg and be able to extend it to other foods," says Dr. Martorell, guide coordinatorAt the moment, they are developing clinical trials to overcome fish allergy but Dr. Echevarría tells us that the success of oral immunotherapy treatment is in the daily intake of the increasing amounts that the patient is tolerating.
"Taking milk and eggs daily is very simple, but doing this process with other types of foods such as legumes, seafood or nuts is more complicated. In the Anglo-Saxon world, for example, this treatment is being carried out with peanuts but because there is something they usually take "
The Guide presented is aimed at health professionals, pediatric allergists and allergists, in order to offer them the recommendations to follow to apply this method more effectively and safely in their consultation depending on the type of patients, their severity and expectations.
- Photos | iStock
- Via | SEAIC, SEICAP
- In Babies and More | They discover a controversial method to cure allergy to cow's milk proteins in babies, Never offer food to a child you don't know, How to know if my baby could have an allergy to cow's milk proteins ,, The hard battle of Parents of children with allergies against those who insist on giving them what they cannot eat, Allergies in children: seven keys to help them live with them, Giving eggs or peanuts at an early age would reduce the risk of allergies, Allowing babies to eat peanuts could prevent them from developing allergy
