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| |  Monthly and Bimonthly Maintenance Ragweed Immunotherapy Comparable in Atopic Asthma: Presented at EAACI By Sara Freeman LONDON -- June 11, 2010 -- Asthmatic patients with ragweed allergy can receive maintenance subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) every other month rather than every month without any loss of efficacy, according to data presented at the 29th Congress of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI). "Both schedules showed nearly the same results for the reduction of allergy and decreasing IgE [immunoglobulin E] level," said Besim Prnjavorac, MD, General Hospital Tesanj, Bosnia-Herzegovina, here on June 8. Over a 5-year study period, 664 patients with atopic asthma were tested and 312 were given SCIT. Of the SCIT-treated patients, 82 patients received immunotherapy with ragweed allergen. The patients who received ragweed allergen were split into 2 groups, with 44 patients receiving monthly maintenance SCIT and 38 patients given bimonthly maintenance dosing. The patients in the monthly maintenance dosing group were initially treated with SCIT weekly, then fortnightly, and then once a month. The bimonthly maintenance group were similarly treated at first, but switched from monthly to bimonthly maintenance dosing after 2 years of treatment. After a further 1 year of therapy, patients in the bimonthly group could receive maintenance dosing every 3 months. The researchers found little difference in IgE levels between the monthly and bimonthly SCIT groups. At baseline, the respective mean IgE levels were 475 versus 512 IU/mL. At 2 year follow-up, the IgE levels were 388 vs 324 IU/mL, respectively, and at 5 years' follow up IgE levels were 294 vs 284 IU/mL. No differences in Health-Related Quality of Life or the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire criteria were found. "Statistical analysis showed the same results of the reduction of symptoms, regardless of whether monthly or bimonthly treatment had been given," Dr. Prnjavorac observed. Due to the necessary long-duration of immunotherapy protocols, Dr. Prnjavorac suggested that a bimonthly, or perhaps trimonthly, maintenance-dosing regimen could be used to improve patient's satisfaction with treatment. [Presentation title: Comparison of Two Schedules of Immunotherapy Treatment of Allergy to Ragweed Allergen. Abstract 420]
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