Cow's milk epicutaneous immunotherapy in children: a pilot trial of safety, acceptability, and impact on allergic reactivity.

摘要

To date, the only therapeutic option in general practice for cow's milk allergy consists of avoiding cow's milk proteins in the diet. However, this is hard to implement in older children,1 and it puts them at risk in case of accidental ingestion. The recent clinical trials investigating immunotherapy for milk allergy all favored the oral route, including oral2'3 and sublingual immunotherapy.4 Epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT), consisting of the repeated application of allergens to the intact skin, may be an alternative method for food allergy treatment. Recently, a new epicutaneous delivery system (EDS) has been developed and successfully tested in animals.5 This pilot study evaluates the safety and acceptability of EPIT in children.