Significant decrease of IgE antibodies after a three-year controlled study of specific immunotherapy to pollen allergens in children with allergic asthma.

BACKGROUND Specific immunotherapy (SIT) in children being not an optional treatment should be administered as soon as possible, also in children aged 2-3 years, due to the very early asthma and rhinitis onset, contrarily to opponents continuing to stress the danger of anaphylactic reactions without displaying reliable data. MATERIALS AND METHODS We report 56 children who underwent SIT and 56 controls seen consecutevely at the Allergy and Immunology Division, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rome "La Sapienza". The control group was treated with all appropriate medications. RESULTS They were highly in favor of SIT with statistically significant differences. We stress that IgE antibodies significantly decreased after treatment only in the study group, and IgG antibodies very significantly increased after treatment only in the study group. DISCUSSION We demonstrate that SIT is the only treatment which can alter the natural course of respiratory diseases, whereas drugs represent only a symptomatic treatment.