06
February
2017
|
16:19
Asia/Singapore

Away with food allergies

An expansion of a National University Hospital (NUH) treatment brings hope that children with persistent allergies to cow's milk, egg and tree nuts like cashews and pistachios will be able to consume these foods after completing the treatment.

Dr Soh Jian Yi, Consultant from the Division of Paediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology at NUH, who is also an Assistant Professor at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, headed the clinical service for Singapore’s first programme to treat children with allergy to peanut.

The Food Oral Immunotherapy programme for peanut started in NUH in August 2015, and has since been expanded to cover cow's milk in November 2016. Programmes for cashew, egg and pistachio are set to be implemented in the first half of 2017, while the programme for shellfish is in the research phase. These cover some of the common allergens in Singapore.

For children with persistent food allergies, consumption of even a minuscule amount of food which they are allergic to can cause a rash; in severe cases, it can lead to death. People with food allergies are generally advised to avoid specific foods, but that might not be a sustainable practice.

Explained Dr Soh, “The patient has to avoid that food, and this places restrictions on the patient as well as the family. There is also the psychological burden of constantly being on the alert, checking labels and foods taken outside of the home. In the case of a persistent food allergy, this means years of carrying this burden.”

The Food Oral Immunotherapy treatment programme involves a series of hospital visits during which a tiny amount of the food allergen is fed to the child, with the amount gradually increased over time. The programme works through raising the patient’s threshold of reaction. The treatment course ranges from a few months to a year. Currently, some 20 children aged from six to 16 years suffering from persistent food allergy have taken part in, or are participating in the treatment.

At the end of the programme, the child will need to continue consuming the allergen in the form and dose they choose at least twice a week, to keep allergy at bay.

More information on the food oral immunotherapy programme can be obtained by emailing allergy_kids@nuhs.edu.sg.