This patch could save the life of a person with a peanut allergy

This tiny patch is something that could mean the difference between life and death for people who suffer from a peanut allergy. The wearable patch has shown great promise and recently completed a clinical trial and has performed very well for young children. The patch is the Viaskin Peanut Patch and it gives small amounts of peanut protein through skin of the wearer.

Normally people who suffer from a peanut allergy completely avoid the allergen. The idea is for the patch to train the immune system of the wearer to tolerate peanut protein. The patch has proven safe and effective for treating peanut allergies in children and young adults. The ability to treat peanut allergies is important because peanut allergies are on the rise in the west and as of now 2% of the population can’t tolerate peanuts.

A clinical trial is ongoing for the Viaskin patch and the patch hasn’t yet been approved by the US FDA, but the patch is expected to get the approval it needs. The clinical trial has focused on volunteers with peanut allergies from 4-25 years of age. These participants used one of three different patches with one being a low dose 100 micrograms patch, high dose 250 microgram patch, or a placebo patch.

After a year the volunteers were tested again to see if their tolerance for peanuts had changed. People using the low or high dose patch say 46% and 48% respectively improve their tolerance. Children between 4 and 11 years old saw the most improvement. The clinical trial has another 1.5 years to run and at that time the participants will be reassessed again. In the future the scientists plan to study a larger group of volunteers.

SOURCE: Gizmodo