Food allergies are an increasingly public health problem, affecting up to 10% of children and causing a significant burden on affected patients, resulting in dietary restrictions, fear of accidental ingestion and related risk of severe reactions, as well as a reduced quality of life. Currently, there is no specific cure for a food allergy, so the only available management is limited to strict dietary avoidance, education on prompt recognition of symptoms, and emergency treatment of adverse reactions. Several allergen specific- and nonspecific-therapies, aiming to acquire a persistent food tolerance, are under investigation as potential treatments; however, to date, only immunotherapy has been identified as the most promising therapeutic approach for food allergy treatment. The aim of this review is to provide an updated overview on changes in the treatment landscape for food allergies.
Keywords: allergen-nonspecific therapy; allergen-specific therapy; biologics; children; food allergy.