Australia's Gift to Peanut Allergy Babies: Free Peanuts

Babies with a peanut allergy in Australia will be exposed to peanut products daily under a first-of-its-kind program. Under the supervision of allergy specialists, eligible infants will be offered gradually increasing doses of peanut powder before reaching a threshold that can be maintained for at least two years in a process known as oral immunotherapy. This gradually builds the body's resistance to food allergens, reducing sensitivity, according to the program. "Oral immunotherapy has been available in clinical trials and some specialist allergy centers around the globe, but this is the first time it has ever been adopted as a national model of care for peanut allergies," per the BBC.

The program is free for children under a year old who've been diagnosed with a peanut allergy and are receiving care at one of 10 participating hospitals in five states, per CNN. Doses are calculated for each individual and administered at home (though experts note this should not be tried unsupervised). "In some cases, [the threshold] might be so high that they can eat peanut in their diet freely, for others it might raise it to a level where accidental exposures wouldn't result in an allergic reaction," program lead Tim Brettig tells the BBC. He notes children may experience allergic reactions initially, but they're usually mild and don't require treatment.

"[This] might be the game-changer we have all wanted to stop this terrible allergy in its tracks," says Assistant Minister for Health Ged Kearney. About one in 10 infants develop a food allergy in Australia, often dubbed the "allergy capital of the world," while 3% develop a peanut allergy. "Ultimately, we want to change the trajectory of allergic disease in Australia so that more children can go to school without the risk of a life-threatening peanut reaction," says Kirsten Perrett, director of the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, which will evaluate the program for safety and effectiveness before deciding whether to expand it to more hospitals and other food allergies, per the BBC. (Research shows children exposed to peanuts early in life are much less likely to develop an allergy.)