Australian researchers hope monthly jab can end peanut allergies

Australian researchers have made a massive breakthrough when it comes to a possible cure for peanut allergies.

They’ve developed a life-changing injection that could make serious reactions a thing of the past.

The Melbourne researchers have tested the new treatment on people who suffer severe reactions and say the new therapy is safe for human use.

For peanut allergy sufferers like Aleisha Symon keeping an EpiPen close is quiet literally a matter of life and death.

“Every time you go out for dinner, every time you’re at someone else’s house it’s ‘are there peanuts in this?’” she said.

“Some of the patients with peanut allergies would love to eat peanuts but many of them don’t, the reason we do want to make them tolerant is due to accidental exposure which is potentially very dangerous,” Associate Professor Mark Hew, of the Alfred Hospital, said.

Researchers from the Alfred and Monash University are developing a monthly injection for peanut allergy sufferers.

In the most recent trial patients were exposed to peanut proteins cut into smaller sections, or peptides, to protect participants from anaphylaxis.

The reseachers believe these peptides are able to teach the immune system to become tolerant of peanuts without the risk of setting off the severe allergic reaction.

While EpiPens may one day be a thing of the past experts say an injection could still be years away.

The next phase will be an effectiveness trial which will expose patients to peanuts at the end of their treatment.