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Doctors use eggs to reverse egg allergies in kids

6:57 PM, Jul 18, 2012   |    comments
USA TODAY
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BOSTON (AP) -- First peanuts, now eggs. Doctors have reversed allergies in some children and teens by giving them tiny daily doses of problem foods, gradually training their immune systems to accept them.

In the best test of this yet, about a dozen kids were able to overcome allergies to eggs. Some of the same doctors used a similar approach on several kids with peanut allergies a few years ago.

Don't try this yourself, though. The researchers say it takes special products, a year or more and close supervision because severe reactions remain a risk.

About 2 percent of young children are allergic to eggs. Many will outgrow it, but some don't.

The findings of the study are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.