Alternative to current avoidance treatmentVaccines to treat food allergy
Alternative to current avoindance treatment
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The only treatment available for food allergic patients was to avoid the offending food.

From the eighties, and especially in the last ten years, oral vaccines to treat food allergy are starting to be considered as a serious alternative to current avoidance measures.

Oral vaccination are administered in increasing doses of the offending food, starting with very low doses, up to the programmed dose. The final objetive is to achieve permanent tolerance to the food.


Up to now, subcutaneous vaccines for peanut allergic patients have been studied, but side effects made this treatment to be withdrawn. With sublingual therapy (drops under the tongue) good results have been achieved with milk, hazelnut and peach. Ooral immunotherapy with food has accomplishe better and safer results in patients allergic to milk, egg, peanut and cereals.

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During the recient International Workshop on Food Allergy held by the Spanish Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, allergy experts debated about the latest advances in food allergy, an increasing disease that can mean an important psychologial and economical burden for kids, families and the whole society.


Recent research on oral vaccines for food allergy show evidence that it is an alternative opction to the current treatment (avoiding the food). These research directions must be continued to test diferent food allergens with consistent and long-term studies.



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