Judy Foreman, The Boston Globe
For many of America's 40 million hay fever -- or allergic
rhinitis -- sufferers, over-the-counter or prescription
decongestants, antihistamines, and nasal sprays often help.
But for those with severe allergies, these drugs often don't do
enough. Decades ago, doctors used a series of injections to treat
such patients, but in recent years this method has fallen into
disuse because the simpler medications have become so popular.
British and Canadian researchers writing in the New England
Journal say they have new support for so-called allergy shots, at
least for grass pollen allergies.
Even three to four years after the shots have been discontinued,
they found, protection against allergy symptoms remains. The shots,
which contain solutions made from tiny bits of grass pollen, are
usually taken about once a month for three years.
The injections have many advantages, commented Dr. Ira Finegold,
chief of allergy at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New
York. When people are allergic to pollen, he noted, their immune
systems typically make too much of an antibody called IgE.
When they get allergy shots, the immune system produces a
different antibody, IgG, which does not cause symptoms such as
stuffy nose or itchy eyes. After immunization, IgG antibodies
attack pollen, keeping the irksome IgE reaction at bay, he said.
In an editorial, Dr. N. Franklin Adkinson Jr. of Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine added that the allergy shots, though rarely
curative, are safe and can provide ``substantial relief.''
