A growing number of allergists in private practice offer OIT for food allergies, though the numbers are still low—about 50 across the country, according to a popular Facebook group of parents interested in the therapy. The West Hartford center is the only one in New England and patients drive from as far as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland for appointments.
Dr. Factor, of the New England center, says his patients typically start with a 0.1-milligram dose of peanut protein—just a few flecks of peanut flour that look like grains of sand. Over the next five hours or so, the dose is gradually increased to about 6 milligrams. If the peanut protein is tolerated, patients are sent home with a plastic bin holding individual containers of the dose, which they take daily. They return to the center every two weeks for ever-larger doses until they graduate to whole peanuts or peanut M&M’s. They are considered desensitized when they can tolerate about 10 peanuts daily and then must continue a maintenance dose indefinitely. Treatment usually lasts 10 to 12 months and is often covered by private insurance, he says.