Does a Peanut Patch Work for Food Allergy?

Peanut allergy affects 2% of children in the U.S., and only 25% of peanut-allergic children outgrow their allergies. Peanut oral immunotherapy is U.S. FDA approved for children who are 4 years or older and is effective in 75% of patients; however, it is expensive, arduous, and complicated by side effects such as anaphylaxis and eosinophilic esophagitis, and it has not been a commercial success. In a previous study, researchers showed that peanut patches were effective in children who were 4 to 11 years old (JAMA 2019; 321:946), but no information is available on patch success in toddlers.

Investigators randomized 362 young children (age range, 1–3 years) with peanut allergy to a daily Viaskin Peanut 250-μg epicutaneous patch or to a placebo …