Management of Risk Factors to Decrease Peanut Allergy Occurrences in the Youth Population

AbstractBackground: Recent increases in prevalence of peanut allergy has become a significant public health concern. There are many risk factors that have been determined to cause development of peanut allergies. These risk factors include genetics, race, sex, primary, and secondary prevention. Previous guidelines have given no evidence that preventing an infant from allergenic foods stunts development of peanut allergy.Objectives: The purpose of this integrative literature review was to identify if early exposure to peanut prevents occurrence of peanut allergy development.Method: An integrative literature review was conducted undergoing extensive search for studies that have focused on early exposure to peanut in the infant population from 2006 to 2017.Results: Early exposure to high risk infants (infants with severe eczema, egg allergy, or both) between the ages of 4 and 11 months old, does prevent peanut allergy development. Follow up studies prove that avoiding peanuts for 12 months after, still prevent development of peanut allergy.Conclusion: This review found evidentiary support for the fact that early exposure to high risk infants does prevent development of peanut allergy.Keywords: peanut allergy, peanut, allergy, risk factors, management, maternal diet, prevention, siblings, and immunology.