Australian study finds many infants labeled with peanut allergy are not truly allergic
A large Australian study revealed that about 35% of infants previously thought to have a peanut allergy tolerated peanuts after supervised testing, suggesting current diagnostic practices may over-label the condition.
A study involving 1,800 children across ten paediatric hospitals in Australia found that 35% of infants who had reacted to peanut butter or tested positive on skin-prick or blood tests could safely consume peanuts after supervised oral challenges. The research, conducted by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the National Allergy Centre of Excellence, was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
Among the 778 infants who underwent incremental peanut exposure under medical supervision, 271 showed no allergic response and are now considered not allergic. Australian Medical Association President Dr Michael Bonning said the findings allow those children to eat peanut-containing foods at an age-appropriate level.
“What this trial does is re-challenge some of those children, so that we can ascertain whether it is a peanut allergy, or whether they have become tolerant,” Bonning told the Today Show.
Bonning added that the high number of reported peanut allergies reflects parental and medical caution rather than failures in testing procedures.
“If your child has a big reaction to something, potentially a peanut, we go to the emergency department… As parents, we are cautious, in the medical profession, we want to make sure children aren’t put at risk,” he said.
Kirsten Perrett, leader of the MCRI Population Allergy Group and director of NACE, said the results could change diagnostic approaches, noting that oral food challenges are not routinely used for every infant with suspected peanut allergy.
“Our results show that clinical history and allergy testing alone were not enough to accurately diagnose peanut allergy in many cases,” Perrett said.
Both experts emphasized the importance of confirming diagnoses with a general practitioner or allergist.
“The experience here is that we’re not always certain of what the allergy is or even what the reaction is, so it’s really important to work through this with a doctor,” Bonning said.
The study underscores the need for careful assessment before labeling infants with peanut allergy.