Immunotherapy: When to initiate treatment in children

Ira Finegold

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although immunotherapy has documented short- and long-term benefits with regard to treatment of allergies and asthma as well as reducing development of new allergies and preventing progression of allergic rhinitis to asthma, the age to begin subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy appears established at the age of 5 years by published guidelines for treatment. The rationale for this age limit was examined and found to not reflect actual immunotherapy practice. Reasons for considering a downward revision are explored in this article. The conclusions from this review of past data and some recent studies with young children, especially with asthma, suggest that there is a need to consider beginning allergen immunotherapy earlier than the age of 5 years in more children.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)698-705
Number of pages8
JournalAllergy and Asthma Proceedings
Volume28
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Age to begin immunotherapy
  • Allergic reactions
  • Allergy in children
  • Asthma
  • Guidelines
  • Immunotherapy
  • Mechanisms
  • Prevention
  • SCIT
  • SLIT

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