November 13

[Health India]: Washington: Researchers have now developed a breakthrough vaccine which can benefit millions who suffer from food allergies , especially nut and milk allergies.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed vaccines that vastly reduce or eliminate dogs' allergic reactions to three major food allergens: peanuts, milk and wheat, with the benefits lasting for at least three months.

The research, published in the Nov. 12 online edition of the journal Allergy ,is the first one to reverse pre-existing food allergies in an animal other than a mouse and provides a new hope to the millions of people who suffer from food allergies.

"Food allergy is an important problem for which there is no good treatment.Developing a cure for this growing problem will help millions of people and save lives," Dale Umetsu, professor of pediatrics at Stanford and chief of the division of allergy and immunology at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, said.

"This study takes us one step closer to finding a treatment that will allow people to live without fear of having a reaction that could kill them," Anne Munoz-Furlong, founder and CEO of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, said.

Though the hopes are high, yet the researchers caution that some advanced testing is requird before the vaccine is tested on humans.(ANI)