A three year controlled study in children with pollinosis treated with immunotherapy.

The clinical course of 87 children with pollen induced rhinitis or both rhinitis and asthma was followed in a prospective controlled study over a three year period. All children were treated with specific IT. The long term results have shown that IT was successful in 94% of children with asthma and rhinitis and 90% with rhinitis given more than 80,000 PNU. By contrast, the outcome of 78 selected controls also followed during the same period who did not receive IT was almost exactly the opposite. In addition to demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of IT, the authors stress the relationship among successful results, highest tolerated doses, and larger cumulative dosage which is irrespective of the duration of the therapy. The authors also discuss whether the children in the control group should be injected with placebo solutions or treated with all available medication.