[ti:Study: Skin Treatment Might Reduce Severe Reactions to Peanuts]
[al:Health & Lifestyle]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-05-24]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]An experimental skin treatment might help young children who have strong reactions to peanuts.
[00:09.96]The new skin patch is designed to train the body to deal with the food allergy.
[00:16.35]An allergy is a strong sometimes dangerous reaction that comes after eating, touching or breathing something that is harmless to most people.
[00:30.06]About two percent of U.S. children are allergic to peanuts.
[00:36.35]Some are so allergic that even a small amount can cause a life-threatening reaction.
[00:44.24]Some children outgrow the allergy. But many must avoid peanuts for life and carry medicine to treat a severe reaction if they accidentally eat peanuts.
[00:58.27]In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first treatment to increase tolerance to peanuts. 
[01:10.12]The treatment is called Palforzia.
[01:14.09]It targets four to 17-year-old children and is eaten daily.
[01:20.71]The California-based drug company Aimmune Therapeutics makes Palforzia. 
[01:27.66]The treatment is also being tested on children younger than four.
[01:33.83]The new patch is called Viaskin.
[01:37.16]It provides a similar treatment to Palforzia but through the skin.
[01:43.92]France's DBV Technologies is researching skin-based treatments as another way to help the body tolerate allergens like peanuts.
[01:56.47]The Viaskin patch is covered with a small amount of peanut protein that the skin takes in.
[02:05.98]A daily patch is worn in the upper-middle part of the back, where young children cannot pull it off.
[02:14.13]On May 11, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study on peanut allergies involving 362 young children ages one to three. 
[02:29.22]The children were tested for the allergy and received the treatment for one year. 
[02:36.47]After 12 months, researchers said the children who took the skin-based treatment showed more tolerance or less severe reactions than those who had taken no effective treatment, or a placebo.
[02:53.94]Dr. Matthew Greenhawt is an allergist at Children's Hospital Colorado who helped lead the study.
[03:03.44]He said, if additional testing shows good results, "this would fill a huge unmet need."
[03:11.65]The researchers said that about two thirds of the children who used the real patch could safely eat more peanuts, about three to four.
[03:22.23]That compares to about one third of the children who were given the patch without the peanut protein: the placebo. 
[03:31.75]Greenhawt said that group likely included children who were outgrowing the allergy during the test.
[03:40.41]Four children receiving Viaksin experienced an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis that was found to be related to the patch. 
[03:52.06]Three were treated with the medicine epinephrine to calm the reaction, and one dropped out of the study as a result.
[04:03.15]Some of the children also accidentally ate foods containing peanuts during the study. 
[04:10.50]Researchers said allergic reactions happened less often among the Viaskin users than those wearing the patches without peanut protein.
[04:23.24]The most common side effect was skin irritation around the patch.
[04:29.96]The results "are very good news for toddlers and their families as the next step toward a future with more treatments for food allergies," said Dr. Alkis Togias of the National Institutes of Health.
[04:46.93]He was not involved with the study.
[04:49.99]Togias warned that it is too early to compare treatment by skin and by mouth. 
[04:56.60]But he pointed to data suggesting that both have different good and bad effects.
[05:04.25]He suggested that treatment by the mouth might be stronger but also might cause more side effects.
[05:12.68]DBV Technologies also struggled for several years to bring the peanut patch to market.
[05:21.51]Last month the company announced that the FDA wanted additional safety research for toddlers.
[05:30.40]At least two studies are reportedly being carried out. One is researching a longer treatment program. 
[05:39.79]A second study is targeting four- to seven-year-olds.
[05:46.01]I'm Gregory Stachel.