Merewether's Isaac Allen is a shining example of the promise of an emerging treatment to overcome life-threatening allergies. Login or signup to continue reading Issac, now 12, made headlines in 2019 when his family moved to Utah for nine months to try him on oral immunotherapy (OIT). His mum Liesel Allen said OIT was "the best thing we've ever done".
"It totally changed our life. Isaac has a life of complete freedom now," Mrs Allen said. "Before we lived a life of fear.
Isaac had six anaphylactic reactions by the time he was six." A free OIT program is now available at John Hunter Children's Hospital for children under 12 months diagnosed with peanut allergy. The program, named ADAPT, is run by the National Allergy Centre of Excellence for children receiving care by allergists at 10 paediatric hospitals across Australia.
Participants will follow a daily dosing schedule of peanut powder, taken at home over two years. Dr Rani Bhatia, a paediatric allergy and immunology specialist at John Hunter Children's Hospital, said "Australia has one of the highest rates of childhood food allergy in the world". "There is no cure and up until now we've had no routinely available treatment," Dr Bhatia said.
Dr Bhatia said OIT was a treatment that could "change the trajectory of that". "We are excited and happy to be involved in this program." Peanut allergy affects 3.
1 per cent of 12 month olds in Australia. "More than two thirds of children with a peanut allergy will remain allergic by the time they're 10," Dr Bhatia said. Isaac was allergic to tree nuts, eggs and cow's milk.
Under his OIT program, those foods were introduced at microscopic amounts to slowly build his tolerance. He can now eat them without reactions. Mrs Allen said Isaac now does "maintenance dosing, where he has those foods every day".
"Earlier in the year we had blood tests and it shows he's no longer allergic to tree nuts, milk or eggs," she said. The National Allergy Centre of Excellence states that "OIT is not a cure", but may improve "the chance of being able to eat a specific food allergen". OIT may not be suitable for everyone.
Professor Kirsten Perrett , head of the ADAPT program, said "oral immunotherapy is being variably implemented around the world using different approaches". Professor Perrett said this made it "difficult to assess the results, including the long-term outcomes for children". Nonetheless, the ADAPT program will be evaluated for safety and effectiveness, along with "quality of life and long-term outcomes".
"If successful, it's hoped more hospitals and private allergy clinics will adopt the program, including in regional and remote areas," a spokesperson said. "And eventually, other common allergens and older age groups will be targeted." Isaac began showing signs of allergy around age one.
"He wasn't putting on any weight. He was allergic to milk and we didn't realise," Mrs Allen said. Doctors diagnosed him with eosinophilic esophagitis on top of his severe allergies.
"He's so healthy now. He's on zero medications," she said. One doctor believed OIT improved Isaac's gut health and helped stop his eosinophilic esophagitis.
Mrs Allen said there were a lot of theories about what caused food allergies. "It has a lot to do with gut health," she said. UNSW Sydney Associate Professor Alice Lee said last year that "the gut microbiomes found in people with allergies are less diverse than people without allergies".
Other research has linked allergy causes to diets of mothers and infants, increasing sanitisation, vitamin D deficiency and immigration, with genetics also playing a role. One in ten infants, 6 per cent of children and about 2 per cent adults in Australia have food allergies. Anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, causes about 2400 hospital admissions and 20 deaths in Australia each year.
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