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| |  Sublingual Immunotherapy Even More Effective During Pollen Peak Season in Children With Rhinoconjunctivitis: Presented at EAACI By Judith Moser, MD WARSAW, Poland -- June 12, 2009 -- Symptom control in children and adolescents with rhinoconjunctivitis can be achieved at least as effectively at pollen peak as during the whole pollen season by the use of grass pollen sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), according to a study presented here at the 28th Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI). Ulrich Wahn, MD, Clinic of Pediatric Pulmonology and Immunology, Berlin Children's Hospital Charité, Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin, Germany, presented the data here at a poster session on June 9. The efficacy and safety of grass pollen sublingual SLIT in children and adolescents with rhinoconjunctivitis has been established for the duration of the whole pollen season, but according to Dr. Wahn, assessments during the peak pollen season are important as they measure the maximum effect of the intervention. "If a good effect can be demonstrated in the peak pollen season, this finding is very reassuring," noted Dr. Wahn. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 278 children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years with grass pollen rhinoconjunctivitis were randomised to receive either a SLIT tablet at a potency level of 300 on the index of reactivity (300 IR) or placebo daily for 4 months before and during the pollen season. Complementary analyses were performed at the pollen peak in order to assess the robustness of these results. The efficacy of the SLIT was evaluated at the pollen peak, using the Average Rhinoconjunctivitis Total Symptom Score (ARTSS) as the primary efficacy endpoint. The specific pollen peak start and end dates of the 29 study centres were based on the most intensive pollen period over approximately 10 or 14 days per centre. The results showed an even greater efficacy of the intervention at the peak exposure time. For the whole pollen season, the mean ARTSS difference between the active and the placebo groups was highly statistically significant (P = .0010). At pollen peak, the difference was also highly significant (P = .0009). At the pollen peak, the score improvement for 5-grass pollen SLIT tablets versus placebo was 28% (mean) and 43% (median). "The intervention effects are very similar for children and adults," Dr. Wahn said. "We have now very robust information for both age groups." Funding for this study was provided by Stallergenes GmbH. [Presentation title: Evaluation of a Five-Grass Pollen Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) Tablet in a Pediatric Population at the Pollen Peak. Abstract 1219]
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