'We now have evidence from other studies that some children once successfully treated remain allergy-free even without daily exposure,' said Robert Wood, principal study investigator and director of Allergy & Immunology at Hopkins Children's.

'In others the allergies return once they stop regular daily exposure to milk,' Woods said. 'This may mean that some patients are truly cured of their allergy, while in others the immune system adapts to regular daily exposure to milk.'

The study appeared in the latest online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.