‘Miracle’ allergy breakthrough as trial finds giving child sufferers small doses of trigger foods like peanuts and milk can build up their immunity

Children with severe allergies have seen ‘life-transforming’ results from early trials using foods to build up their immunity.

Five NHS hospitals have so far joined a £2.5million clinical trial which is testing if everyday food products – such as peanuts and milk – can be used as treatment.

Experts said that while not a cure for extreme allergies, early results have found the immunotherapy has the potential to stop deaths and reduce hospitalisations from accidental exposure.

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.

The research has been funded by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, set up in memory of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died in 2016 (pictured). She suffered a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into a Pret baguette she bought at Heathrow airport

‘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.’

The research has been funded by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, set up in memory of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse who died in 2016.

The 15-year-old, from Fulham, West London, suffered a severe allergic reaction to sesame baked into a Pret baguette she bought at Heathrow airport.

The sandwich did not have any allergen advice on its wrapper because it was not required by law at the time, as it was made on the premises.

Researchers say early results have found the immunotherapy has the potential to stop deaths and reduce hospitalisations from accidental exposure

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.

The clinical oral immunotherapy (OIT) trial is using everyday foods to build up an allergy patient’s tolerance over time.

It 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.

WHAT IS ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK?

Anaphylaxis, also known as anaphylactic shock, can kill within minutes.

It is a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to a trigger, such as an allergy.

The reaction can often be triggered by certain foods, including peanuts and shellfish.

However, some medicines, bee stings, and even latex used in condoms can also cause the life-threatening reaction.

According to the NHS, it occurs when the immune system overreacts to a trigger.

Symptoms include: feeling lightheaded or faint; breathing difficulties – such as fast, shallow breathing; wheezing; a fast heartbeat; clammy skin; confusion and anxiety and collapsing or losing consciousness.

It is considered a medical emergency and requires immediate treatment.

Insect stings are not dangerous for most victims but a person does not necessarily have to have a pre-existing condition to be in danger.

An incremental build-up of stings can cause a person to develop an allergy, with a subsequent sting triggering the anaphylactic reaction.

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.

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.’

To date, 139 people aged from two to 23 with allergies to peanuts or cow’s milk have started treatment with full results expected in 2027.

In 2021, ‘Natasha’s Law’ was brought in, making allergy information a requirement for food made on site.

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.’