Bo's Tests Prove Long Term Peanut Allergy Cure from OIT
June 01, 2020
Just wanted to share some exciting test result news about Bo's continued long term success with tolerance to peanuts years after he completed his peanut allergy oral immunotherapy treatment at Arkansas Childrens Hospital.
Quick Summary of Bo's 14 Year Peanut Allergy Cure Journey:
- In November 2006, Bo was diagnosed with peanut allergy at 5 years old after having a severe allergic reaction after eating a portion of a candy bar that contained peanut.
- In July 2007, he began a blinded study OIT protocol with peanut IgE blood score >100 kU/L at Arkansas Childrens Hospital under the care of Dr. Stacie Jones. Unbeknown to us at the time, he was receiving placebo therapy for the first year of treatment. So no surprise that at end of year one, his tests showed he was still allergic to peanuts. Quite the bummer but it proved valuable data as the placebo had no effect.
- July 2008 (after receiving placebo for year 1), Bo was switched to real peanut flour OIT eaten daily with applesauce or pudding. His peanut flour doses were then escalated every 2 weeks until he reached his top daily maintenance dose of 4,000 mg (equal to about 13 peanuts). We drove from south Louisiana to Little Rock weekly or twice a month for years for Bo's treatment.
- In 2012 Bo reached his treatment endpoint which required repeat oral food challenge up to 5,000 mg peanut protein (~16.5 peanuts). He passed the food challenge while on therapy without any symptoms, confirming his status of “desensitized.” His peanut IgE blood score was down to 9.3 kU/L.
- His daily peanut dosing was then discontinued for 6 weeks, and another food challenge was conducted to further assess any potential for allergic reaction to peanut while off therapy. He passed a 5,000 mg peanut protein (~16.5 peanuts) food challenge that was consumed without symptoms then was able to consume 10,000 mg of peanut protein (~33 peanuts) without symptoms noted, resulting in his status being redefined as “sustained unresponsiveness.” He was advised to add peanut to his diet 2-3 days per week to maintain his clinical status.
- For the last 2 years Bo rarely ate his suggested weekly peanut maintenance dose.
- In December 2019, Bo was accepted into Vanderbilt for Fall of 2020 and was awarded a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship!
- In March 2020, Bo was notified by the Army that he would be required to provide additional documentation and testing to verify that he is no longer allergic to peanuts.
- May 2020 test results: Bo's IgE blood score is now all the way down to 1.09 kU/L and he passed his food challenge by consuming 7.5 grams of peanut butter with no allergic reaction what so ever! (Though he still does not like the smell or texture of peanut butter!)
So 8 years after completing oral immunotherapy treatment for peanut allergy and years after stopping weekly peanut maintenance dosing, Bo has test results that officially prove he is no longer allergic to peanuts!
We greatly appreciate all the people who treated and supported Bo along his years long journey to being cured of his peanut allergy!
Sincerely,
Bo Talbot & Family