"For those plagued with peanut allergies protection may eventually come in the form of a patch worn on the skin a new study suggests. In the second phase of a drug trial half of participants wearing the highest dose peanut patches for a year were able to consume the equivalent of four peanuts without reacting researchers reported Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. It means that they are not going to have to worry about traces of peanut in a package that came from a plant where peanuts were used or minor contamination of food in a restaurant said the studys lead author Dr. Hugh Sampson a professor of pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine and director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai. Thats a potentially lifesaving development. Consuming even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction. About  million Americans have food allergies including  in  children according to the Food Allergy Research and Education FARE group. Eight foods account for  percent of all reactions milk eggs peanuts tree nuts soy wheat fish and shellfish. Unlabeled allergens are a leading cause of food recalls in the U.S. and the number of food allergyrelated visits to hospitals are on the rise according to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA recently warned people with peanut allergies to avoid foods containing ground cumin http after traces of peanut powder were found in the ground spice. In the skin patch trial the international team of researchers randomly assigned  volunteers ages  to  to wear a placebo patch or a patch containing peanut protein at one of three doses  micrograms  micrograms or  micrograms. At the end of a year  percent of those wearing the highdose  microgram patch were able to tolerate consuming at least one gram of peanut protein. The same dose worked for nearly  percent of kids  to . The skin patch  intended to desensitize patients to peanuts by exposing them to tiny amounts of the allergen  may be particularly appealing to children who are too frightened to try oral or underthetongue therapy. Many have been told all their lives that if they ingest peanuts they will have a severe reaction and die he said. So its tough to get them to take it. With this you just slap a little patch on their backs. Although some volunteers experienced redness and itchiness at the site of the patch there were no serious side effects. Just two dropped out because of flareups of eczema. The goal for most practicing allergists and for most parents is to get a child to the point where if there is an accidental ingestion of peanut it would not be as risky or lifethreatening said Dr. Amy Stallings an assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of allergy and immunology at the Duke University Medical Center who is not affiliated with the new study. And the patch may be a way of doing this that is safer. The patch studys results are promising although researchers need to continue following the participants for another year Sampson said. It could be several more years before the patch will be available for consumers. Researchers are trying to discover why food allergies have increased among children  the number of kids living with peanut or tree nut allergies tripled between  and  studies show http  but theres no clear answer. Allergies to peanuts and tree nuts tend to begin in childhood and are usually lifelong http"