MILWAUKEE – If you are interested in allergy shots but can’t stand a needle, there’s a new treatment option being used in Europe, Asia and Australia that could be coming in the next few years to the US. The major barrier at this point is an FDA-approved product.
In the US, if you are talking about immunotherapy for allergies, you are talking about allergy shots. Shots are extremely time intensive and also relatively costly. Another unpleasant aspect has been the shot itself; no one wants a needle if it’s not absolutely necessary.
That’s where the new approach could really pay off. The treatment is called SLIT, which stands for Sublingual Immunotherapy. It’s already been used for 20 years in other parts of the world. In this case, the patient takes an allergen solution or tablet directly under the tongue. Apparently, the tissue under the tongue has very few mast cells, so it helps to reduce the chance of an allergic reaction while the patient is building tolerance to the allergen. In fact, this treatment has been so safe that it’s approved for use in the home by adults and children.
This has been done successfully with a number of types of allergens. However, the first grass allergy sublingual vaccine was only approved for Europe in 2006.
A large double-blind placebo-controlled study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in February 2008. The study looked at the effectiveness of this new grass treatment over the course of 2 years. The researchers noted that after 2 seasons of using the SLIT grass treatment, patients had a 36% decrease in symptoms as well as a 46% decrease in their use of allergy “rescue” medication. In addition, patients showed improvements in blood work. So, the patients’ symptoms improved and their bodies’ sensitivity to allergens was reduced.
The study will continue for another year, so these results are interim results. However, this is the first US study to support a longer-term treatment plan similar to the kind of approach used for allergy shots.
(American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology)
