Subcutaneous immunotherapy versus sublingual
Subcutaneous immunotherapy treatment is better complied than sublingual practice, according to a wide dutch study.
When the general practitioner was the prescriber, the duration of the treatment is longer. This may be due to distance to the patient, because specialists are usually located in hospitals at far more distance than GPs.
Older patients and those with higher socioeconomic status also are observed to have better persistance.
Generally speaking the persistance of immunotherapy is low: 80% of the patients quit before completing the recommended term.
Allergy immunotherapy is a safe and effective way of treatment. At least a three-year vaccination period is recommended to reach long term benefits and be able to obtain an allergic disease-modifiyng effect.
Immunotherapy, or allergy shots, may be administered via sublingual or in subcutaneous immunotherapy regimes.
The economic burden of non-compliance is calculated to be around 10 million euros, with a median cost of 1800€ in those patients discontinuating it before getting to the recommended period. It is a huge amount of money and time that does not yield long-term benefits. It means an enormous threat to inmmunotherapy efficacy.
Last updated: August 22nd, 2013
