1 in 50 children have peanut allergy and are at risk for life threatening anaphylaxis.
Current treatment involves desensitizing patients while gradually giving small doses in the hopes of inducing tolerance. This has risks though, and a high incidence of adverse events have been reported.
In a recent letter to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, authors described a way for patients to ingest boiled peanuts in peanut allergic patients without experiencing symptoms. They report boiling peanut seeds led to a loss of allergenic proteins. This led to desensitization without adverse events.
The authors concluded boiling the peanuts may lead to ingesting low amounts of the allergenic protein that will not trigger anaphylaxis.
It is too soon to say if this will eventually work, but more studies will be underway. As of now, most patients with peanut allergy would not be candidates for oral desensitization as the risk of anaphylaxis is extremely high. Most, if not all patients, need to practice strict avoidance measures and carry around their injectable epinephrine at all times. But boiling peanuts may be alternative treatment in the future, but it is not ready to be practiced yet.