Can prawn allergies be treated: New Singapore trial explores oral immunotherapy

Unlike allergies to foods such as milk or eggs, which many children eventually outgrow, shellfish allergy typically develops during adolescence or adulthood and often persists for life. An allergic reaction can range from hives and swelling to potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. 

“For people living with prawn allergy, avoiding prawn is currently the only effective management strategy,” said Dr Lydia Wong, the principal investigator of the study and a consultant with NUH’s Division of Paediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology. “This can be challenging in Singapore, where shellfish is widely used in many local dishes and cross-contamination is difficult to avoid.”

WHAT IS ORAL IMMUNOTHERAPY?

Oral immunotherapy exposes patients to carefully controlled amounts of the food they are allergic to, rather than completely avoiding it. The amount is gradually increased under medical supervision, with the aim of changing how the immune system responds to the allergen.