‘Modified rush’ immunotherapy delivers good results
REPORTING FROM AAAAI/WAO JOINT CONGRESS
Dr. Schafer and her colleagues reviewed a year’s worth of results for patients undergoing conventional immunotherapy or a “modified rush” protocol in 2014. They found that the conventional approach produced a 64.5% success rate, compared with an 84.4% success rate for those doing the faster protocol (P less than .001).
Typically, allergen immunotherapy takes 6 months, with patients making weekly visits with gradually increasing doses. The weekly visits can be a burden, and many patients drop out. The modified rush protocol seems to be easier for patients to accomplish, Dr. Schafer said at the joint congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the World Asthma Organization.
The study compared 231 patients on the faster protocol with 392 treated with the traditional approach.
On the “modified rush” protocol, patients aged 12-15 years took preventive medications – 20 mg of prednisone and 150 mg of ranitidine 2 days before their appointment and again the day after. In addition, they took 10 mg of cetirizine and 5 mg of montelukast 2 days before their appointment. Patients also took those same medications the morning of the treatment.
