A peanut allergy diagnosis in infancy can mean years of avoiding the food or undergoing treatments to build tolerance. But a recent study suggests that more than one-third of babies thought to have the allergy may stop reacting badly to peanuts within months of that diagnosis.
In an analysis published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, researchers conducted supervised "food challenges" with infants diagnosed with a peanut allergy. These challenges involved giving the babies increasing amounts of peanut protein, with the intention of confirming whether they indeed had an allergy.
The team found that more than 1 in 3 infants who underwent the food challenge tolerated the peanut protein, meaning they didn't experience symptoms of an allergic reaction.
"This rate is much higher than we thought," study co-author Dr. Timothy Brettig, a pediatric allergist at the National Allergy Centre of Excellence in Australia, told Live Science.
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