Australian scientists have said a particular strain of probiotics could offer a cure for people with peanut allergies.

Researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne said most children who received a protein and probiotic were able to tolerate peanuts without any allergic symptoms at the end of the trial.

This is 20-times higher than the natural rate of resolution for a peanut allergy, with 23 of the 28 children who received the probiotic with the peanut protein able to eat peanuts after the study. The effect lasted for two to five weeks.

Peanut allergies have increased by 350 per cent in the past two decades, making it the most common cause of death due to food allergy in Australia.