Food allergy

National ADAPT OIT Program and NACE Evaluation Study

ADAPT is an oral immunotherapy program offered at participating hospitals to eligible babies with peanut allergy.

Peanut is the most common cause of childhood food allergy, affecting 3.1 per cent of one year old’s.

An emerging and transformative treatment option is oral immunotherapy (OIT). To help understand more about OIT, the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE) has partnered with 10 paediatric hospitals across Australia to launch the ADAPT OIT Program.

As part of a new model of care, the hospitals offer the free, standardised, peanut OIT program to eligible children under 12 months diagnosed with peanut allergy.

ADAPT OIT Program                                                                

If families suspect their baby has a peanut allergy, the first step is to visit their GP. The doctor may refer the baby to an allergist at one of the participating hospitals where they can have the allergy confirmed and – if eligible – be introduced to the treatment program. Then, over two-years, the hospital ADAPT teams carefully guide the children through having small and increasing amounts of a peanut powder every day at home. The families have regular check-ups with their ADAPT team in the clinic or via telehealth. At the end of the program, the children avoid peanut for two-months before a food challenge and follow up assessment to test whether they have developed a tolerance to peanut – this is called ‘remission’.

NACE Evaluation Study

The NACE will play a critical role in evaluating the ADAPT OIT Program looking at its safety, effectiveness and acceptability to families, plus changes in quality of life. This will help identify ways to make sure children with peanut allergy have access to the most effective and safe care. Following the Evaluation Study, it is hoped more hospitals and private allergy clinics across Australia introduce the program as a standard model of care for treatment of peanut allergy in young children.