Peanut allergies in infants.  The New England Journal of Medicine published an update on peanut allergies in infants and what to do to decrease them.

Did you know?

• 2% of US children have a peanut allergy
• Peanut allergy is the leading cause of death from food-induced anaphylaxis in the US.
• Risk of developing peanut allergy is significantly higher among Jewish children living in the UK compared with Jewish children living in Israel (UK children typically do not ingest peanuts until after one year of age and Israeli children do).   This observation helped brainstorm the following study…

A unique study, called the Learning Early about Peanut Allergy (LEAP) was conducted in children from 4 to 11 months with severe eczema, egg allergy or both.  The study lasted until age 5.  The prevalence of peanut allergy was 17.2% in those who AVOIDED peanuts and 3.2% among those who CONSUMED peanuts.

This study helped shape the guidelines that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) made in 2017 that infants with severe eczema, egg allergy or both should consider peanut-specific immunoglobulin E measurement and/or skin prick test.  Then, based on the test result, introduce age-appropriate peanut-containing foods as early as 4 to 6 months to REDUCE peanut allergy risk.  For infants with no eczema or food allergies, they may have peanut-containing foods introduced at any age in accordance with “family and cultural preferences.”

I hope this helps.