Desensitization therapy and pediatric asthma

  Asthma is a common disease in pediatrics, and its incidence has been on the rise in recent years, seriously affecting the physical and mental health of children and their normal life and learning. Asthma in children is closely related to allergic factors, and asthma occurs mostly due to repeated exposure to allergens that cause the body to have an allergic reaction. There are two important factors for the occurrence of allergic reactions in the body: 1) the existence of allergens in nature; 2) the existence of hypersensitivity to allergens in children with asthma. Now it is summer, the weather is hot and humid, but also the season of allergens, common allergens are house dust mites, dust mites and cross-linked packaged molds, life is inevitable, asthmatic children are eager to breathe freely!  The traditional treatment of pediatric asthma requires long-term, systematic medication, but the efficacy of the treatment is affected by the difficulty of adhering to it by the children and their parents, resulting in a prolonged illness that is difficult to cure. For years, medical professionals and children have been searching for an easier, more effective and scientific treatment method! Now, we have finally found it! That is desensitization therapy. Desensitization therapy, also known as hyposensitization therapy, is a specific immunotherapy, named by the World Health Organization as specific allergic vaccine therapy, and is by far the most effective method for the etiological treatment of allergic diseases such as asthma. Desensitization therapy is not complicated. First of all, an allergen skin test should be performed, and it takes about 20-30 minutes to find out which allergen you are allergic to, and then desensitization therapy is performed for the allergen.  Desensitization treatment is divided into two phases: the first phase is the initial phase, which requires starting with the lowest concentration and injecting once a week, and then increasing by one concentration every month for about six months. The second phase is the maintenance phase, which starts with one injection per week and then one injection per half month, and is maintained until 1.5 to 2 years. Since desensitization treatment is slow to take effect, it must not be rushed. It is observed that most patients start to take effect after 2 to 3 months of injection, and the effect becomes obvious after half a year or so.  Standardized desensitization treatment, as the only causal treatment method, is a “protracted war”, and the course of treatment is generally 3 years. Patients must have the determination and perseverance for long-term treatment, and must patiently adhere to the regular use of drugs and early use of drugs to achieve better results. As a special group of patients, children do not have a clear awareness of treatment, therefore, it is important to do a good job of education and training for parents. According to clinical experience, the effective rate is over 90%.