Allergic rhinitis immunotherapy, also known as allergen-specific immunotherapy, is also one of the common methods used to treat allergic rhinitis.
Allergic rhinitis is a common condition that causes sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and other symptoms. Treatment with immunotherapy can effectively improve symptoms and reduce flare-ups.
This therapy is a causative treatment for lgE-mediated type I allergic diseases, i.e., patients are given gradually increasing doses of allergen extracts (therapeutic vaccines) to induce immune tolerance, so that when patients are re-exposed to the corresponding allergens, their symptoms will be significantly reduced, or they will not produce clinical symptoms, which has both immediate and long-term therapeutic effects, and has the potential to change the natural course of the disease.
At present, the common clinical methods of allergen immunotherapy include subcutaneous immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy, which are divided into two phases of dose accumulation and dose maintenance, with a total course of treatment of about 3 years.
1. Subcutaneous immunotherapy: divided into conventional immunotherapy and accelerated immunotherapy, accelerated immunotherapy is also divided into cluster immunotherapy and shock immunotherapy. At present, conventional immunotherapy and cluster immunotherapy are more commonly used in domestic clinics. It takes about 3-6 months for the dose-accumulation phase of conventional immunotherapy, during which 1 injection is given twice a week.
2. Sublingual immunotherapy: It is a kind of allergen vaccine given through the oral mucosa, and there are two kinds of dosage forms: drops and tablets. Sublingual immunotherapy is relatively easy to administer, safe and well tolerated, and more suitable for younger children.
In addition to immunotherapy, allergic rhinitis is mainly treated with medication, such as antihistamines and glucocorticosteroids, etc. Treatment should be chosen according to the condition.