Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Feb;17(1):55-59.
doi: 10.1097/ACI.0000000000000335.

Allergen immunotherapy: an updated review of safety

Christine James  1 , David I Bernstein
Affiliations
Review

Allergen immunotherapy: an updated review of safety

Christine James et al. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Allergen immunotherapy is the only modality that can modify the immune response upon exposure to aeroallergens and venom allergens. This review will update the allergist on recent studies evaluating safety of sublingual and subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy.

Recent findings: Multiple clinical trials and retrospective studies have been published evaluating overall safety of these therapies. The risk of systemic reactions with subcutaneous immunotherapy remains quite low, but near-fatal and fatal anaphylaxis does occur, requiring physicians to be aware of potential risks for such events. Sublingual immunotherapy has a high incidence of local site application reactions, but severe anaphylactic events are very uncommon.

Summary: Subcutaneous immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy are beneficial in treating allergic rhinitis and venom hypersensitivity but should be administered only by physicians familiar with potential risk factors and able to manage treatment-related local and systemic allergic reactions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

D.I.B. is a medical adviser for Merck, Circassia; investigator for Clinical trials Merck, Circassia, Allergy Therapeutics, and Director for AAAAI/ACAAI Allergy Immunotherapy Surveillance Study. C.J. has no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Singh K, Axelrod S, Bielory L. The epidemiology of ocular and nasal allergy in the United States, 1988–1994. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;126:778. - PubMed
    1. Soni A. Statistical Brief #204. Bethesda, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2008. Allergic rhinitis: trends in use and expenditures, 2000 to 2005.
    1. Freeman J. Further observations of the treatment of hay fever by hypodermic inoculations of pollen vaccine. Lancet. 1911;2:814–817. - PubMed
    1. Durham SR, Emminger W, Kapp A, et al. SQ-standardized sublingual grass immunotherapy: confirmation of disease modification 2 years after 3 years of treatment in a randomized trial. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012;129:717–725. - PubMed
    1. Bernstein DI, Wanner M, Borish L, et al. Twelve-year survey of fatal reactions to allergen injections and skin testing: 1990–2001. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004;113:1129. - PubMed