Iride Dello Iacono, Salvatore Tripodi, Mauro Calvani, Valentina Panetta, Maria Carmela Verga, Stefano Miceli Sopo
Department of Paediatrics, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Benevento, Italy.
Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 2013 FebTreatment of severe egg allergy is avoidance of hen's egg (HE) and carrying self-injectable epinephrine. Specific oral tolerance induction (SOTI) seems a promising alternative treatment. However, some aspects of SOTI are still considered experimental. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of an original 6-month SOTI protocol in children with very severe HE allergy using raw HE emulsion. Twenty children (age range: 5-11 yr) were randomized equally into a SOTI treatment group and a control group. The treatment group started SOTI and underwent a second challenge 6 months later. Control children were kept on an egg-free diet for 6 months and then underwent a second challenge. After 6 months, 9/10 children of the SOTI group (90%) achieved partial tolerance (at least 10 ml, but <40 ml of raw HE emulsion, in a single dose) and 1 (10%) was able to tolerate only 5 ml (no tolerance). After 6 months, nine control children tested positive to the second challenge at a dose ≤0.9 ml of raw HE emulsion, and one reacted to 1.8 ml (SOTI vs. control group p<0.0001). All children in the SOTI group had side effects, but no child had a grade 5 reaction according to the Sampson grading. Six months of SOTI with raw HE emulsion resulted in partial tolerance, with regular intake, in a significant percentage of children with severe egg allergy. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Iride Dello Iacono, Salvatore Tripodi, Mauro Calvani, Valentina Panetta, Maria Carmela Verga, Stefano Miceli Sopo. Specific oral tolerance induction with raw hen's egg in children with very severe egg allergy: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. 2013 Feb;24(1):66-74
PMID: 22957889
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