Five NHS hospitals have recruited 139 children and young people who were at risk of potentially fatal allergic reaction to peanuts or cow’s milk
An NHS trial to eradicate severe allergies to nuts and cow’s milk has achieved “miracle” results.
Five hospitals have recruited 139 children and young people who were at risk of potentially fatal allergic reactions. Gradually giving them tiny but increasing amounts of the substance they are allergic to appears to have built up a tolerance to them.
Sibel Sonmez-Ajtai, paediatric allergy consultant and principal investigator at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This study is enabling us to do something we would never have dreamed of doing before – giving patients the foods we know they are allergic to.
“This treatment is not a cure for a food allergy, but what it achieves is life-transforming. To have a patient who has had anaphylaxis to 4mls of milk to then tolerate 90mls within six to eight months is nothing less than a miracle.”
To date 139 people aged from two to 23 with allergies to peanuts or cow’s milk have started treatment. The new clinical oral immunotherapy (OIT) trial gives them everyday foods under medical supervision to build up an allergy patient’s tolerance over time. It is also training NHS staff to offer OIT treatment.
The trial is being run at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
It will shortly start in Scotland, with plans for Bristol and Leeds to also join. If successful, the three-year trial could provide more evidence for everyday foods treatment to be made available on the NHS.
The Food Standards Agency reports that two million people in the UK are living with a diagnosed food allergy. Allergies are increasing but scientists still do not understand why. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died in 2016 after suffering a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into a Pret baguette.
Her parents, Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, campaigned for a change in food laws and set up the foundation with the hope of curing allergies through research.
Mrs Ednan-Laperouse said: “We are so happy that some children with peanut and milk allergies are already seeing the benefits of using everyday foods under medical supervision to treat their allergic disease. If Natasha were alive today, this is exactly the type of research she would have loved to be part of. This is a major first step in our mission to make food allergies history.
We look forward to seeing the final results. We can’t rely on big pharma and its giant profits to be a game-changer for people living with allergies.”
The £2.5million clinical trial has been funded by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. The charity is funded by donations from firms including Pret, Lidl, Leon, Uber Eats, Greggs, Tesco, Just Eat, Co-op, Morrisons, KFC, Sainsbury’s, Costa, Burger King, Domino’s, Kellogg’s, M&S, Muller and Waitrose. Full results of the OIT trial are expected in 2027.
‘Our journey has been amazing so far’
Thomas Farmer, 11, who was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy when he was one, can now eat six peanuts a day after joining the trial in Southampton.
His mother Lauren said: “Having food allergies can be really difficult and isolating … (but) our journey on the Natasha study has been amazing so far. At first, it was very scary for both Thomas and us when he did the food challenge, as we weren’t sure what to expect.
“Knowing that Thomas can now tolerate six peanuts a day has taken away so much anxiety around food. It will also hopefully mean that he will be able to eat a wider variety of food as we won’t be so concerned about accidental exposure. For Thomas to be able to achieve all this with no medicine, just off-the-shelf foods, is amazing.”
Since joining the trial in Newcastle, five-year-old Grace Fisher, who has a milk allergy, is now drinking 120ml milk a day. She will soon be able to eat pizza with her friends.
Her mother Emma said: “Grace is over six months into this journey and is doing amazing. She is currently on 120ml of milk and loves her daily hot chocolates.”