Effectiveness of Subcutaneous Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy With Tree Pollen Allergen Extract Adsorbed on Calcium Phosphate in Children With Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis: Results of a 2 Year-Long Observation

Abstract

The study was aimed at evaluating effectiveness and safety of subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy (scASIT) with tree pollen allergen extract adsorbed on calcium phosphate at allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in children. Patients and methods: open-label prospective study of 50 children and adolescents (5-17 years of age) with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis caused by high sensitivity to tree pollen allergens. The first group involved the patients undergoing scASIT for 2 years 6 months (n = 23), the control group-the patients (n = 27) not undergoing any specific immunotherapy. Results: scASIT was accompanied by a statistically significant (in comparison with the control group) reduction in intensity of rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms (6.1 ± 3.1; 11.8 ± 4.5; p = 0.00002), reduction in the use of symptomatic drugs (1.0 ± 0.4; 1.8 ± 0.3; p = 0.000004) and improvement of quality of all spheres of children's life-physical (p = 0.001), social (p = 0.04), emotional (p = 0.001) and role functioning (p = 0.03). Systemic side reactions were not observed in the patients. Local reactions were observed in 23% of all allergen injections. Conclusions: the authors established high effectiveness and safety of scASIT with tree pollen allergen extract adsorbed on calcium phosphate suspension at allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in children.