Six weekly shots to shoo-away hay fever

A new therapy promises to shoo away misery of hay fever with only six weekly shots. It also promises a long-lasting immunization against hay fever, reported researchers.

Hay fever allergies triggers during late summer through early fall. Hay fever afflicts as many as 40 million people in the U.S. out of this, Ragweed allergy being the most common, alone manages to attack three fourth of the population.

Hay fever is an allergic reaction. It usually develops when the immune system of the body overreact to some substance in the air. Sneezing, coughing, runny noses, and itchy eyes, nose and throat are the early symptoms of ragweed allergy. In some cases it may even trigger asthma attacks.

Study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center in Baltimore, claims replacing the ‘twice-a-week over five year’ injection therapy by this short-term treatment.

Peter Creticos, lead researcher said, “Not only does the relief seem to last more than a year, the technique may be applied to other substances that spark allergic reactions.”

Under its preview, the study took up 25 volunteers who experienced ragweed allergic problems on each fall season. While 14 volunteers were administered the AIC treatment of six weekly shots, the remaining 11 received dummy injections prior to the 2001 ragweed season.

The researchers found that the 14 volunteers reported quicker relief that lasted for more than a year. On the other hand no benefit was seen in volunteers who were administered placebo injections.

The results also confirmed that the AIC recipients showed lesser allergy symptoms during the 2002 season.

A mixture of a ragweed component that activates the allergic reaction along with synthetic chunk of DNA that stimulates the immune system were used in the treatment.

The researchers concluded that no short-term side effects were seen from the treatment. Also, researchers were unable to track down volunteers after the 2002 season, thus longer-term risks were yet to be assessed.

A larger and more comprehensive study enrolling 140 volunteers is underway.

The AIC (Amb a 1-immunostimulatory oligodeoxyribonucleotide conjugate) treatment is being developed by Dynavax Technologies Corp. of Berkeley, Calif. Though till date results are confirmed, experiment on wider sample base is underway. It would take another three to foue years for the shots to be readily available in the markets, revealed authorities.