New Hay Fever Vaccine Promises Relief to Sufferers

An exciting new vaccine for hay fever may spell the end of the misery of symptoms including sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes suffered by thousands of  Irish people each year. The numbers suffering the condition are on the rise with extenuating factors including an early spring and milder autumn extending the misery for sufferers. Grass pollen accounts for the vast majority of cases. Developed by British scientists, after the largest ever trial for an allergy vaccine, this is the closest scentists have come to  developing a successful vaccine against the condition.
  
The vaccine works by training the body’s immune system to deal with pollen.
Previous attempts to develop a vaccine have been problematic largely due to the fact that injecting pollen can cause serious allergic reaction. In this latest trial, however, researchers overcame this by modifying the pollen used in the vaccine. Each shot contains 13 different grasss pollens chemically treated to limit overstimulation of the immune system and combined them with a natuaral amino acid called tyrosin to slow down its release into the bloodstream. The addition of a fatty acid molecule works to boost the immune system’s response to the vaccine.

As part of the trial 1,028 volunteers given the vaccine were asked to record the severity of eight hay fever symptoms. Volunteers who received a jab once a week for four weeks reported a significant improvement in their symptoms. On average, symptoms improved by 13 per cent compared with those receiving a placebo, with some enjoying an improvement of 27 per cent.

Posted Thursday 12th June 2008