Safety of subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy in children: A retrospective review and bird eye to literature
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Date
2018
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Abstract
Subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) has been shown to improveclinical course in children with asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR). Systemicand local side-effects may be seen during its administration. The purposeof this study was to evaluate risk factors associated with systemic and localside-effects in children receiving SCIT. We performed a retrospective chartreview in the children who received allergen subcutaneous immunotherapyfor asthma and/or allergen rhinitis. Demographic data, diagnosis, skin pricktest results, presence of additional allergic diseases, the seasonal variationof adverse events in the first and third years of SCIT were recorded. Atotal of 508 eligible patients were included in the study. Mean age of thechildren was 10.9±3.2 years, and 65.4% were male. Asthma was presentin 21.9% of the children, AR in 44.7%, 33.5% of them had both asthmaand AR. According to the skin prick test results, sensitivity to more thanone allergen was present in 45.1%, while the most common single-allergensensitivities were to grass pollen and dermatophagoids (32.5% and 14.4%,respectively). Ratio of systemic and local side-effects was 4.7% and 9.3%,respectively. Local side-effects were more common than systemic reaction.SCIT is a safe treatment modality while using the appropriate dose and withthe administration of dose-escalation protocol.