Intranasally administered immunoglobulin for the prevention of rhinitis in children.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the efficacy of intranasally administered immunoglobulin in preventing symptoms of rhinitis in children.


METHODS
Forty children ages 1 to 4 years who attended day-care centers in Turku, Finland, were enrolled in the double blind, placebo-controlled study. The children were randomly assigned to receive treatment with immunoglobulin, composed mainly of immunoglobulin A, or placebo, both administered as nasal sprays twice daily for 8 weeks. During this medication period and an additional 8-week follow-up period, the parents recorded the symptoms of the children daily in the diaries provided. One child who met an exclusion criterion was withdrawn from the study after a few days of medication.


RESULTS
During the 8-week medication period the 19 children in the immunoglobulin group had 42% fewer days with rhinitis than the 20 children receiving placebo (mean, 10.8 vs. 18.7 days; P=0.004). The total numbers of episodes of rhinitis in the immunoglobulin and placebo groups were 33 and 51, respectively. No significant differences were observed between the groups during the postmedication follow-up period.


CONCLUSIONS
Intranasal administration of immunoglobulin appears to be an effective method to prevent symptoms of rhinitis in children, and further studies of this approach are needed.
Heikkinen
T
T
Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku, Finland.
Ruohola
A
A
Ruuskanen
O
O
Waris
M
M
Uhari
M
M
Hammarström
L
L
D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007116:Immunization, Passive / Q000379:methods*; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000517:prevention & control*
D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G