Efficacy of sublingual specific immunotherapy on allergic asthma and rhinitis in children's real life.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Sublingual-specific immunotherapy (SLIT) is considered as a valid treatment of respiratory allergies. AIM: We performed a case-control study to evaluate the effect of SLIT in children with allergic asthma and rhinitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study plan included 140 patients (age 6-14 yr, 43% girls and 57% boys) presenting allergic rhinitis and/or asthma, 70 treated with SLIT actively for three years and 70 controls never treated with specific immunotherapy (only symptomatic drugs). Rhinitis Symptom Score (RSS), Asthma Symptom Score (ASS) and Medication Score (MS) were evaluated at beginning and during the 3 years of immunotherapy. results: There was a significant improvement of RSS (mean ± SD) in the SLIT group baseline 5.31 ± 2.01, third year 1.38 ± 1.06 (p < 0.0001 vs baseline). CONTROL GROUP baseline 5.00 ± 1.08, third year 4.68 ± 1.152 (P » NS). ASS (mean ± SD) in the SLIT group baseline 4.09 ± 2.21, third year 1.23 ± 1.4 (p < 0.0001 vs baseline). CONTROL GROUP baseline 4.04 ± 2.46, third year 3.62 ± 2.26 (p » NS). MS (mean ± SD) in the SLIT group baseline 3.30 ± 1.4, third year 0.88 ± 1.26 (p < 0.0001 vs baseline). CONTROL GROUP baseline 3.19 ± 1.23, third year 3.39 ± 1.12 (p » NS). There are no statistically significant differences among monosensitized/polysensitized patients and at different age ranges. None of the patients included reported severe systemic reactions or anaphylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: During the treatment, the active group showed sustained reductions in mean asthma and rhinitis symptom scores when compared with controls to confirm the efficacy and safety of sublingual immunotherapy.