To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Rapid Desensitisation Quickly Increases Allergen Immunity, But Is Still Risky: Presented at ACAAI URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2173C2.htm Doctor's Guide November 15, 2007
By Carole Bullock DALLAS, TX -- November 15, 2007 -- Maintenance immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis can be quickly reached; however, patients should be closely supervised, said investigators reporting here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) 65th annual meeting. "Rush immunotherapy builds up the immune response and you get to the target sooner," said William Smits, MD, Allergist, Allergy and Asthma Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Dr. Smits presented study findings here on November 11. He said, conventional immunotherapy is effective in treating allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, and chronic rhinosinusitus, but has a downside: poor compliance, delayed efficacy and patient frustration. The 2,017 study participants, aged 1.7 to 77 years, had positive subcutaneous skin tests to allergies and had allergic rhinitis, asthma, or chronic rhinosinusitus. Prednisone, 60 mg daily for adults, 2 mg/kg daily for children and H1 antihistamines, cetirizine, fexofenadine, or loratadine, was administered as premedication for 3 days to 1,216 patients; 801patients received a 3-day premedication regimen of prednisone and H1 and H2 blockade. Similar H1 antagonists were used and the H2 antagonists included ranitidine, famotidine or cimetidine. The final dose of the protocol ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 cc of a 1:1000 dilution of allergen extracts manufactured by ALK (Round Rock, Texas) and Greer Laboratories (Lenoir, North Carolina). Systemic reactions occurred less frequently using a lower targeted final dose, experienced by 35 patients (1.8%), and 1 patient experienced anaphylaxis, Dr. Smits reported. Researchers concluded that rapid desensitization for maintenance immunotherapy can be done, "quickly, safely and effectively under careful supervision." There are risks for the procedure, including anaphylaxis, Dr. Smits noted, but the study did demonstrate that "overall, systemic reactions occurred less frequently (possibly) due to a lower targeted final dose and more aggressive premedication than previous literature descriptions." There was no funding for the study and the author had no relevant disclosures. [Presentation title: Safe and Effective Rapid Desensitization: A Cumulative Experience of 2017 Patients. Abstract 30] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.