Pollen tablets can alleviate hay fever

Friday January 23rd, 2009

By Jane Collingwood

Children who suffer from hay fever may benefit from taking a grass pollen tablet every day.

Hay fever can have a large impact on children's quality of life and ability to concentrate at school. If untreated, it may also develop into asthma later on. Experts are looking for treatments that help the immune system adapt to pollen and the other triggers of hay fever.

A team led by Professor Albrecht Bufe of the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, set out to discover whether grass pollen tablets could reduce patients' sensitivity.

They gave either grass pollen tablets or an inactive placebo to 253 children aged between five and 16 years. The tablets were taken two to six months before the start of the pollen season until the end of the season.

A "clear improvement" was seen, say the experts in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Hay fever symptoms fell by nearly a quarter (24 per cent), asthma symptoms fell by nearly two-thirds (64 per cent), and children taking the grass pollen tablets needed a third (34 per cent) less medication, such as nasal sprays or asthma sprays.

The tablets were usually well-tolerated, with a few cases of itchiness in the mouth.

Professor Bufe says: "Just as with adults, this immunotherapy with the tablet being placed under the tongue is also very promising in children".

He adds: "For a long time now, standard hay fever treatment has consisted of desensitisation/immunotherapy with the allergens being injected under the skin. If it transpires that the grass tablets have a similarly effective long-term impact, in future it will be possible to replace the injection therapy in children."

Bufe, A. et al. Safety and efficacy in children of an SQ-standardized grass allergen tablet for sublingual immunotherapy. The Journal of Clinical Immunology, Vol. 123, January 2009, pp. 167-73.

Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Child Health | Europe

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