Food Allergy Challenge
Reported November 8, 2004

BALTIMORE (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Food allergies affect up to 8 percent of children, which translates to about 8 million kids living in fear of eating something that could kill them. Many kids outgrow those allergies, but some may never know they've outgrown them at all. Now, a new approach takes out the guesswork and adds a little freedom to these kids' lives. It's taken a long 12 years for Sarah Buster to enjoy food. "Let's see, peanut, egg and dairy are the three main things that I am allergic to," she says. "Then, banana, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, peas, shellfish." And the list goes on. But every year, that list gets shorter. "This summer, I have added 18 foods all in all," Buster tells Ivanhoe. That's a lot for a kid who once only had five foods she could eat at all. Pediatric allergist Robert Wood, M.D., says a new approach opens pantry doors for kids like Buster. "It turns out that allergy tests for food allergy are inaccurate. It's really bad to be avoiding foods that you are not truly allergic to because we are talking about these major food items." Instead of using those allergy blood tests alone, Dr. Wood, of Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, adds food challenges. They're given when the level of allergy antibodies in the blood test show a child has a 50/50 chance of passing the challenge. "For some of these major foods, it is if not the best day of their life, really close to the best day of their life," Dr. Wood says. Buster has passed more than 30 food challenges. "I feel really happy whenever I get something added that I can now have that other kids are also able to have," she says. Now, with less focus on food, she has more time to focus on her musical skills. It takes more than two hours to administer a food challenge. Doctors have to watch the child closely to determine if he or she has outgrown the allergy.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Jessica Collins, Media Relations
Johns Hopkins Children's Center
100 N. Charles St., Suite 200
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 516-4570
jcolli31@jhmi.edu