Active treatment for food allergy

Abstract

Food allergy has grown in rapidly in prevalence, currently affecting 5% of adults and 8% of children. Management strategy is currently limited to 1) food avoidance and 2) carrying and using rescue intra- muscular epinephrine/adrenaline and oral antihistamines in the case of accidental ingestion; there is no FDA approved treatment. Recently, oral, sublingual and epicutaneous immunotherapy have been developed as active treatment of food allergy, though none have completed phase 3 study. Efficacy and safety studies of immunotherapy have been variable, though there is clearly signal that immunotherapy will be a viable option to desensitize patients. The use of bacterial adjuvants, anti-IgE monoclonal an- tibodies, and Chinese herbal formulations either alone or in addition to immunotherapy may hold promise as future options for active treatment. Active prevention of food allergy through early intro- duction of potentially offending foods in high-risk infants will be an important means to slow the rising incidence of sensitization.