Peanut allergy: Research shows oral immunotherapy is safe for preschoolers

We don’t have to live in fear anymore.”

That’s the common refrain from hundreds of parents of preschoolers with peanut allergy that my colleagues and I have successfully treated with peanut “oral immunotherapy” over the past two years.

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a treatment in which a patient consumes small amounts of an allergenic food, such as peanut, with the dose gradually increased to a target maximum (or maintenance) amount. The goal for most parents is to achieve desensitization — so their child can ingest more of the food without triggering a dangerous reaction, protecting them against accidental exposure.

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