Deadly threat of peanut allergy may be defused

By MARTIN JOHNSTON and NZPA

A new anti-allergy drug tested successfully in the United States gives hope to more than 20,000 New Zealanders at risk of a potentially fatal reaction to peanuts.

Allergy New Zealand has welcomed the development of the drug, although its progress to the critical third round of tests on patients has been held up by a row between the three companies with rights to it.

Peanut allergy is the leading cause of allergy deaths, killing 50 to 100 people in the United States a year.

The incidence of the allergy, suffered by an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 New Zealanders, is rising. Researchers do not know why, but study results to be published today in the US show baby creams or lotions containing peanut oil may lead to allergies.

Contact with even tiny amounts of peanut can trigger a reaction in which the throat can close up and airways swell, constricting breathing. A rash can break out and blood pressure can drop severely.

Some airlines have stopped serving peanuts and some schools ask children not to bring peanut-butter sandwiches for lunch to safeguard people allergic to even a whiff of the nut.

The new drug, called TNX-901, is given in monthly injections. It is not a cure, but doctors believe it should help allergy sufferers to avoid severe complications if they unknowingly eat one or two peanuts.

"Basically, we would not be seeing people in the emergency room or the morgue from peanut accidents," said Dr Allan Bock, an allergist from Colorado, who was not part of the study.

But the drug is a few years away from going on the market. Patients would need lifelong monthly injections and would still have to guard against eating peanuts.

In a study, 84 people with immediate allergic reactions to peanuts received monthly shots of either a placebo or TNX-901 for four months. There were three doses of TNX-901; neither doctors nor patients knew who received what.

Those on the highest dose could handle an average of almost nine peanuts' worth of peanut flour at the end, compared with about a half-peanut at the start. And five of them ate the equivalent of 24 peanuts without reacting.

The drug also protected people from the even tinier amounts of peanuts that can be present in the air.

Allergy New Zealand, an advocacy group that promotes awareness, education and support, believes the research will lead to a better quality of life for all those affected by the allergy.

"Constant anxiety and fear of accidentally eating or coming into contact with peanuts is part of the day-to-day existence for people with this condition," said president Natalie Lloyd.

"The added threshold buffer provided by the drug will offer the sort of peace of mind that children and adults with peanut allergy have never known before."

Peanut allergy: the facts

* Peanut allergy is the leading cause of allergy deaths - 50 to 100 people die in the US each year.

* Reactions can cause the throat to close up and airways to swell, constricting breathing. A rash can break out and blood pressure can drop severely.

* An estimated 20,000 to 50,000 New Zealanders suffer the allergy and the incidence is rising.

* Baby creams or lotions containing peanut oil may cause it.

* A new drug, given in monthly injections, is not a cure but can help sufferers avoid severe complications if they unknowingly eat peanuts.