Desmond Finds Success with Oral Immunotherapy

As a paramedic, Asha Brown never expected to need to respond to an emergency at home, but that’s the situation she found herself in when her son, Desmond, at 6 months old, experienced anaphylaxis after his first peanut exposure.  Learning that her young son had a life-threatening food allergy was scary and intense. 

“I had actually heard about oral immunotherapy prior to having Desmond. It was in very early phases of development, but once it was apparent that Desmond had severe allergies, I asked about it at our appointment with an allergist,” said Asha.

Seen by the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Desmond, now 5, has been part of Lurie Children’s Pediatric Oral Immunotherapy Program for the last few years.

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) “retrains” the immune system to be less reactive to allergenic food proteins. In the case of peanut allergy, for example, OIT is performed by feeding the patient increasing doses of peanut protein slowly over time, starting with an extremely small dose. Eventually, the patient will eat a larger, daily dose of peanut protein that they can tolerate without a reaction. This dose is eaten every day in hopes that it will provide a protective benefit to cross-contact or accidental ingestion of peanut. This is not a guarantee of future tolerance, meaning that the patient will not necessarily be able to eat peanut freely without reaction. The need for diligence and immediate access to injectable epinephrine persists.

“OIT is a major commitment to undertake. Desmond is required to have a daily administration of a small amount of, in this case, peanut proteins, in addition to two hour bi-weekly appointments,” said Asha.  “Also, because Desmond is 4, it does require sometimes pushing through tantrums. Because we have had to express the importance of ‘doing hard things,’ Desmond has developed a deeper understanding of perseverance. The character development was a pleasant and unexpected ‘side-effect’ of the treatment.”

Recently, Desmond celebrated, on his fifth birthday, a major milestone- being the 100th graduate of the OIT program.

“I want people to understand how serious food allergies can be, especially when your young child enters school, or other environments that are uncontrolled, but also that there are options which may be appropriate depending on the child,” said Asha. “Our entire care team at Lurie Children’s has been so wonderful. Desmond looks forward to his appointments and feels empowered to ask questions about his care.” 

“The ability to eat a small amount of the food someone is allergic to daily provides protection against accidental exposures and alleviates the fear of a severe reaction. While OIT isn’t a cure for food allergies, this ‘bite protection’ improves quality of life for patients like Desmond and his family, and it helps families conquer the fear of their food allergy by actively doing something to help make it less scary,” said Abby Lang, MD, MSCI, Co-Director, Oral Immunotherapy Program.

Learn more about the Pediatric Oral Immunotherapy Program at Lurie Children's. 

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