A new study found that physician-diagnosed peanut allergies in children ages 0 to 3 dropped by 27% following the release of guidelines recommending the introduction of peanut products in infancy.
A 2015 study known as the LEAP trial showed that early peanut introduction reduced the risk of peanut allergy in high-risk infants.
Interim guidelines released after that suggested that high-risk infants be introduced to peanut products at 4 to 6 months. Low-risk infants were to be exposed to peanuts at 6 months old.
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In 2017, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases published formal guidelines for the prevention of peanut allergies in infants. NIAID supported the earlier guidelines and provided more detailed, risk-based recommendations.
Since then, peanut allergy incidence has dropped by 45% compared to rates before the interim guidelines.
The drop could signal a “possible shift in food allergy epidemiology,” said Ruchi S. Gupta of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern University.
