Synonyms
Allergen immunotherapy; Allergen-specific desensitization; Allergy immunotherapy; Allergy injections; Allergy shots; Hyposensitization; Immunotherapy
Background
Although the benefits of immunotherapy have been well demonstrated for the treatment of many allergic conditions such as allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, and stinging insect allergy (Casale and Stokes 2011), the risks of adverse reactions must be considered when immunotherapy is used.
Local Reactions
Localized reactions at the site of immunotherapy injections are fairly common, with frequencies ranging from 26 % to 82 % patients and 0.7 % to 4 % of injections (Cox et al. 2011). These local reactions may involve local erythema, swelling, and itching. In one survey of 249 patients undergoing immunotherapy and who experienced local reactions, 84.7 % reported reactions smaller than the palm of the hand, and 81.9 % classified local reactions as not bothersome at all or only slightly bothersome. Ninety-six percent of...
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References
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Pongdee, T. (2014). Safety of Immunotherapy. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_526
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_526
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