Health Masters

Allergies affect approximately 40 percent of children in America and allergic disorders rank #1 among children’s chronic diseases. Food allergies, which affect 5 percent of children, can be one of the more dangerous types, and in some cases requires constant vigilance of every bite of food a child takes. But help may be on the way for those with milk allergies, and maybe even those who suffer from reactions to peanuts, eggs, and other common foodstuffs.

Xolair, manufactured by Genentech, is an asthma drug that is in trials to test the effects of allergy desensitization. A small preliminary study was conducted simultaneously at Stanford University Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston, where they found that the drug helped to quiet an overactive immune response to dairy. Due to its success, a larger study has already been launched and is currently ongoing.

The initial study involved eleven children with severe dairy allergy. On an allergy scale of 1 to 100, the children ranked at the high end, all in the 90th percentile, which equates to severe allergic—and possibly life-threatening—reactions. Over the course of nine weeks, the children received injections of Xolair, which blocks the immune protein IgE. They then took the medication for an additional two to three months, while slowly increasing their intake of milk, working up to two ounces per day. For two more months, the children had a daily milk intake of two ounces.