An overview of the current state of food desensitization

Purpose of review To highlight the current evidence on food desensitization in children with food allergy. Recent findings Food Allergen Specific Immunotherapy (FA-AIT) is currently recognised as a treatment option for treating children with allergy at least to the main common foods (i.e. milk, egg and peanut). The oral route of administration has been proven to be the most effective in achieving desensitisation. Efforts are devoted to overcome the current unmet needs mainly related to safety issues and long-term efficacy, as well as adherence to the treatment and improvement of health-related quality of life. In this perspective, alternative routes of administration and adjunctive treatments are under investigation. Summary The future of food allergy management is a personalised approach based on a shared decision-making that takes into account the needs of patients and families. Health professionals will be able to offer multiple treatment options, including FA-AIT with adjunctive or alternative therapies. Thus, patients should be correctly identified, using validated predictive factors, in order to select appropriate candidates for these therapies.
Source: Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Tags: IMMUNOTHERAPY AND NEW TREATMENTS: Edited by Giovanni Passalacqua and Robert Bush Source Type: research