Table 1.

Early history of allergen immunotherapy for food allergy

Year	Summary of Key Findings
1905	Finkelstein conceptualizes OIT. He successfully desensitizes nurslings with “milk idiosyncrasy” by gradually administering increasing drops of milk.15
1908	Schofield treats a 13-year-old patient with egg allergy over an 8-mo period by incrementally increasing small amounts of raw egg disguised in pill form.13
1912	Schloss describes a patient with allergies to egg, oat, and almond, which he orally desensitizes to egg. Sensitivity to almond and oat also decreases during this treatment. He uses skin testing to guide up-dosing during therapy.16
1920	Schloss reports 5 patients with egg allergy treated with subcutaneous injection of ovomucoid. He also describes 12 children with food allergies successfully desensitized using OIT.17
1920	Park describes oral desensitization of a child with hypersensitiveness to cow’s milk. Pallor and drowsiness were noted during build-up phase.18
1926	Stuart and Farnham advise treatment of food allergies by the oral method at an early age. In cases of milk or egg sensitization, their recommendation is enthusiastic because treatments are “simple and regularly successful.”19
1930	Freeman performs rush inoculation over 8 d with cod fish juices in a 7-y-old boy with fish sensitivity. The patient is subsequently started on a fish diet and prescribed an ounce of cod-liver oil daily. A concurrent egg allergy resolves with this therapy.20
1935	Keston, Waters, and Hopkins report effectively desensitizing 50 cases of food allergy to milk, wheat, egg, orange, tomato, or cocoa and publish oral desensitization protocols to each of these foods.21
1940	Edwards describes successful oral desensitization of 11 of 12 patients with milk allergy using protocols published by Keston et al.22