Doctors cure severe peanut allergy in children

London: Children with severe peanut allergies have been cured in the world's first successful treatment for the potentially fatal disorder, doctors have announced.

Doctors at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge gave four children tiny doses of peanut flour every day, gradually increasing the dose until now they can eat ten or more nuts a day.

Previously the children would have risked anaphylactic shock or even death if they accidentally ate even a trace amount of peanut.

The team say this is the first time that so-called desensitisation treatment has been successful. Earlier attempts at exposing children with peanut allergies to the nuts caused serious reactions.

It is thought this treatment has worked because it used small doses of flour which was eaten rather than previous attempts which involved injecting peanut extract or oil.

The results of the initial study are published in the journal Allergy which warned that the results are preliminary and the treatment should not be attempted outside research settings.

One child in the study suffered anaphylactic shock at the beginning of the trial but recovered later.