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New guidelines give parents road map to prevent peanut allergies

Parents worried about allergies now have clear guidelines for when and how to give their babies some peanut to prevent allergies.
/ Source: TODAY

Parents worried their kids may develop peanut allergies now have a clear road map for preventing it.

New guidelines from allergy experts say that even children with the highest risk of having a peanut allergy should be tested with a tiny dose of peanut, because it might prevent the allergy from ever developing.

Most kids should get a small taste of peanut protein by the time they are 6 months old and they should get regular doses if they don’t have an allergic reaction. Those at highest risk should be tested in a specialist’s office.

“We actually want all children to have peanut introduced,” Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, an allergy specialist at Children's Hospital Of Colorado, told NBC News.

It’s a big change from previous guidelines, which recommended that people keep peanuts and peanut products away from their kids completely until they are three years old if there is a risk of allergies.

The new guidelines from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and other groups follow up on findings that giving peanut to kids early enough in life can train their immune systems so they don’t over-react and cause a dangerous allergic reaction.

The new guidelines say most babies can try a little peanut paste or powder — never whole peanuts — at home.

High-risk infants

Babies with with severe eczema or an egg allergy should be tested at a specialist’s office when they’re 4 to 6 months old and have started taking solid food.

There, the specialist can watch the infant to make sure nothing dangerous happens when they get a little dose of peanut. The benefits can be enormous.

Even if they have a sensitivity to peanuts, they may not be fully allergic and being fed a small dose of peanut may help prevent the allergy from ever developing, the new guidelines say.

It may scare parents, but it shouldn’t, Greenhawt said.

“We believe the process to be very, very safe,” he said. In a study published last year, none of the infants given tiny doses of peanut protein had severe allergic reactions.

Related: After 11-year-old's sudden death, mom warns about food allergies

Moderate-risk infants

Babies with mild to moderate eczema can be fed a little peanut-containing food at home without a doctor’s help, according to the guidelines being published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and elsewhere.

Low-risk children

All other kids can get peanut-containing foods when parents decide but they should get some by the age of 6 months, after they start solid foods.

“We know that these children with severe eczema and or egg allergy had about an 80 percent reduced chance of developing peanut allergy if peanut was introduced between four to 11 months of life,” Greenhawt said.

“That's a whole generation of children who never have to develop this allergy.”

Whole peanuts can choke small children and no child under the age of 4 should get whole peanuts, the groups caution.

Related: More evidence a peanut patch can help kids with allergies

Kelly Schreiner of Marble Hill, Missouri tried it with her daughter Camden, who's 2. Her older brother Zach, now 3, had a peanut allergy he later outgrew and Camden had an egg allergy, so Schreiner was worried.

But it worked. Camden got a little peanut in the allergist's office and she never developed a peanut allergy.

"It's important to me as a mom so that my kids can go through life without having to constantly watch what they eat," Schreiner told NBC News. "They can eat anything. They can eat peanut butter. We don't have to constantly be reading labels."

The new guidelines say family history is not a risk factor. Just because a child has a sibling or other relative with a peanut allergy does not mean he or she is at high risk, the NIAID and other groups say.

What’s important is to give a little bit to the babies and watch them carefully for a reaction, according to the guidelines.

“You're looking for signs that your child didn't tolerate the food,” Greenhawt said.

“It can be anything to a rash to vomiting, or something more severe such as coughing, wheezing vomiting, looking lethargic, looking withdrawn, or going into shock,” he added. “You need to be on the lookout just like you would like when you’re introducing any food.”

About 5 percent of Americans have food allergies of some sort and 1 to 2 percent have peanut allergies. Kids allergic to peanuts can have a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction to even a tiny bit of peanut dust or food containing peanuts.