ARE ALLERGY SHOTS HELPFUL? EFFECTIVENESS OF IMMUNOTHERAPY

The results vary from very good in a large percentage of hyposensitized children, to not so beneficial results in others. The efficacy of such therapy is difficult to evaluate because of a number of variables involved, such as the lack of uniformity in the preparation of pollen extracts, variation in dosage schedules, and the lack of a uniform standard for estimating the degree of relief obtained. Sometimes the child may not get any relief because of incorrect clinical diagnosis, or due to the use of stale, deteriorated extracts which had not been refrigerated, or due to over or underdosage, and certain other non-pollen allergies which the child may have, but was not tested for.

It is not yet known how hyposensitization achieves its results. At one time it was thought that hyposensitization works by stimulating the production of antibodies against the extracts, but it has now been noticed that the degree of improvement and the level of the blocking antibodies are not correlated.

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ARE ALLERGY SHOTS HELPFUL? EFFECTIVENESS OF IMMUNOTHERAPYThe results vary from very good in a large percentage of hyposensitized children, to not so beneficial results in others. The efficacy of such therapy is difficult to evaluate because of a number of variables involved, such as the lack of uniformity in the preparation of pollen extracts, variation in dosage schedules, and the lack of a uniform standard for estimating the degree of relief obtained. Sometimes the child may not get any relief because of incorrect clinical diagnosis, or due to the use of stale, deteriorated extracts which had not been refrigerated, or due to over or underdosage, and certain other non-pollen allergies which the child may have, but was not tested for.It is not yet known how hyposensitization achieves its results. At one time it was thought that hyposensitization works by stimulating the production of antibodies against the extracts, but it has now been noticed that the degree of improvement and the level of the blocking antibodies are not correlated.*82\260\8*

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