Prevention of new sensitizations by specific immunotherapy in children with rhinitis and/or asthma monosensitized to house dust mite.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have suggested that single-allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) may prevent sensitization to other airborne allergens in monosensitized children. We aimed to assess the prevention of new sensitizations in monosensitized children treated with single-allergen SIT injections in comparison with monosensitized patients given appropriate pharmacologic treatment for their disease.


METHODS
A total of 147 children with rhinitis and/or asthma monosensitized to house dust mite were studied; 45 patients underwent SIT with adsorbed extracts and 40 patients underwent SIT with aqueous extracts for 5 years. The control group was comprised of 62 patients given only pharmacologic treatment for at least 5 years. Skin prick tests, medication scores for rhinitis and asthma, and atopy scores according to skin prick tests were evaluated at the beginning and after 5 years of treatment.


RESULTS
All groups were comparable in terms of age, sex, and disease characteristics. At the end of 5 years, 64 out of 85 (75.3%) in the SIT group showed no new sensitization, compared to 29 out of 62 children (46.7%) in the control group (P = .002). There were no differences between the SIT subgroups with regard to onset of new sensitization (P = .605). The patients developing new sensitizations had higher atopy scores (P = .002) and medication scores for both rhinitis (P = .008) and asthma (P = .013) in comparison to patients not developing new sensitizations after 5 years of SIT.


CONCLUSIONS
According to our data, SIT has the potential to prevent the onset of new sensitizations in children with rhinitis and/or asthma monosensitized to house dust mite.
Inal
A
A
Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. ainal@cu.edu.tr
Altintas
D U
DU
Yilmaz
M
M
Karakoc
G B
GB
Kendirli
S G
SG
Sertdemir
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D007114:Immunization / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000276:immunology*; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy