Safety of specific immunotherapy with standardized house-dust mite vaccine in asthmatic children

Objective To evaluate the safety of specific immunotherapy(SIT)with standardized house dust mite(HDM)vaccine on allergic asthmatic children.Methods 110 patients with mild to moderate asthma who were allergic to HDM received SIT with a standardized Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus(Der P)extract(Alutard SQ,ALK-Abell(o),Denmark).The local side effect and systemic side effect were monitored after each allergen injection.Results All patients completed a total of 2332 iniections.291 injections (12.48%)of all injections caused local side-effects,79 injections(3.39%)have sysmetic side effects.One injections caused severe(non-life-threatening)systemic reactions : symptoms:rapid onset(5 min after injection)of generalized urticaria,itching,flushing,severe asthma.In different dosage group:20-800 SQU,2 000-80 000 SQU,100 000 SQU,the 10cal side effect and systemic side effect were 1.05%,12.05%,19.62%and 0.35%,6.71%,2.51%,respectively.Local side effects were not correlated with systemic side effect.Conclusions Complying with the EAACI immunotherapy guidelines,SIT with standardized HDM vaccine is a safe treatment in asthmatic children.A majority of local reactions and all systemic reactions are mild and respond well to ordinary treatment and adjustment of dose-increase schedule. Key words: Asthma; Specific immunotherapy; House dust mite