Recent advances in peanut allergy

Peanut remains preeminent as the food allergen most associated with severe and fatal allergic reactions. Reactions are frequent despite patients' best efforts to avoid peanut. In the future, better information sharing and communication between families and both schools and restaurants may lead to a decrease in the rate of severe reactions induced by exposure to peanut outside the home. Reaction severity may increase over time but up to 25% of young peanut allergic individuals may outgrow their peanut allergy. Personalized care plans and education programmes may have an impact on avoidance of peanut and on the appropriate responses of caregivers. Peanut's allergenicity may be affected by the method of cooking, with roasted peanuts appearing more allergenic than boiled or fried peanuts. Immunotherapy with modified peanut allergens and DNA based vaccines may soon move from animal studies to clinical trials. (C) 2002 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.