Kansas City,
03
April
2018
|
10:54 AM
America/Chicago

Kansas City Star: Peanut allergy? Children's Mercy treatment working and could soon be open to all kids

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By Andy Marso

Jackie Sapko and her husband spent the first five years of their son Colton’s life trying to keep him away from anything with peanuts.

Colton’s peanut allergy was so severe that even a tiny taste could send him to the emergency room. EpiPens, nut-free preschools and carting his own cupcakes to birthday parties became routine parts of life.

So when Sapko heard Children’s Mercy Hospital was offering an experimental treatment that would intentionally expose him to peanuts, albeit gradually, it was a tough call for her.

“That was something that my husband and I had to really talk about and pray about,” Sapko said. “We had to take a step back and say, ‘Is this really something we want to do with our son?’”

The Sapkos, from Springfield, took the leap and so far the results have been better than they hoped for.

Colton is now 6. His peanut sensitivity continues to decrease, and others are seeing the same effect in a clinical trial that could change the lives of thousands of people by reversing the rising tide of dangerous nut allergies in the U.S and elsewhere.

 

Read the full article via the Kansas City Star.

Learn more about the services offered through the Children's Mercy Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Department.