***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: BACKGROUND The natural history of allergic sensitization is complex and poorly understood . A prospect i ve nonr and omized study was carried out in a population of asthmatic children younger than 6 years of age whose only allergic sensitivity was to house dust mites ( HDMs ) . OBJECTIVES The study was design ed to determine whether specific immunotherapy ( SIT ) with st and ardized allergen extracts could prevent the development of new sensitizations over a 3-year follow-up survey . METHODS We studied 22 children monosensitized to HDM who were receiving SIT with st and ardized allergen extracts and 22 other age-matched control subjects who were monosensitized to HDM .  The initial investigation included a full clinical history , skin tests with a panel of st and ardized allergens , and the measurement of allergen-specific IgE , depending on the results of skin tests . Children were followed up on an annual basis for 3 years , and the development of new sensitizations in each group was recorded . RESULTS Ten of 22 children monosensitized to HDM who were receiving SIT did not have new sensitivities compared with zero of 22 children in the control group ( p = 0.001 , chi square test ) . CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that SIT in children monosensitized to HDM alters the natural course of allergy in preventing the development of new sensitizations Background : Although widely practice d for over 80 years , the role of specific immunotherapy ( SIT ) in pediatric asthma treatment is still controversial . We assessed the effects of a 3‐year period of subcutaneous administration of a st and ardized preparation of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ( D pt ) on the respiratory health in a group of asthmatic children monosensitized to house dust mite ( HDM ) BACKGROUND Previous studies have suggested that single-allergen-specific immunotherapy ( SIT ) may prevent sensitization to other airborne allergens in monosensitized children . We aim ed to assess the prevention of new sensitizations in monosensitized children treated with single-allergen SIT injections in comparison with monosensitized patients given appropriate pharmacologic treatment for their disease . METHODS A total of 147 children with rhinitis and /or asthma monosensitized to house dust mite were studied ; 45 patients underwent SIT with adsorbed extracts and 40 patients underwent SIT with aqueous extracts for 5 years . The control group was comprised of 62 patients given only pharmacologic treatment for at least 5 years . Skin prick tests , medication scores for rhinitis and asthma , and atopy scores according to skin prick tests were evaluated at the beginning and after 5 years of treatment . RESULTS All groups were comparable in terms of age , sex , and disease characteristics . At the end of 5 years , 64 out of 85 ( 75.3 % ) in the SIT group showed no new sensitization , compared to 29 out of 62 children ( 46.7 % ) in the control group ( P = .002 ) . There were no differences between the SIT subgroups with regard to onset of new sensitization ( P = .605 ) . The patients developing new sensitizations had higher atopy scores ( P = .002 ) and medication scores for both rhinitis ( P = .008 ) and asthma ( P = .013 ) in comparison to patients not developing new sensitizations after 5 years of SIT . CONCLUSION According to our data , SIT has the potential to prevent the onset of new sensitizations in children with rhinitis and /or asthma monosensitized to house dust mite BACKGROUND Sublingual immunotherapy ( SLIT ) has been proved to be effective in allergic rhinitis and asthma , but there are few data on its preventive effects , especially in children . OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical and preventive effects of SLIT in children by assessing onset of persistent asthma and new sensitizations , clinical symptoms , and bronchial hyperreactivity . METHODS A total of 216 children with allergic rhinitis , with or without intermittent asthma , were evaluated and then r and omized to receive drugs alone or drugs plus SLIT openly for 3 years . The clinical score was assessed yearly during allergen exposure . Pulmonary function testing , methacholine challenge , and skin prick testing were performed at the beginning and end of the study . RESULTS One hundred forty-four children received SLIT  and 72 received drugs only . Dropouts were 9.7 % in the SLIT group and 8.3 % in the controls . New sensitizations appeared in 34.8 % of controls and in 3.1 % of SLIT patients ( odds ratio , 16.85 ; 95 % confidence interval , 5.73 - 49.13 ) . Mild persistent asthma was less frequent in SLIT patients ( odds ratio , 0.04 ; 95 % confidence interval , 0.01 - 0.17 ) . There was a significant decrease in clinical scores in the SLIT group vs the control group since the first year . The number of children with a positive methacholine challenge result decreased significantly after 3 years only in the SLIT group . Adherence was 80 % or higher in 73.8 % of patients . Only 1 patient reported systemic itching . CONCLUSIONS In everyday clinical practice , SLIT reduced the onset of new sensitizations and mild persistent asthma and decreased bronchial hyperreactivity in children with respiratory allergy BACKGROUND Allergic rhinitis ( AR ) is a main risk factor for the development of asthma . Two r and omized open-label trials indicated that allergy immunotherapy ( AIT ) prevents the onset of asthma in patients with AR . However , these trials have method ological limitations , and it is unclear to what extent this experimental efficacy translates into clinical effectiveness . OBJECTIVES We sought to investigate the effectiveness of AIT to prevent asthma in patients with AR . METHODS Using routine health care data from German National Health Insurance beneficiaries , we identified a consecutive cohort of 118,754 patients with AR but without asthma who had not received AIT in 2005 . These patients were stratified into one group starting AIT in 2006 and one group receiving no AIT in 2006 . Both groups were observed regarding the risk of incident asthma in 2007 to 2012 . Risk ratios ( RRs ) were calculated with generalized linear models by using a Poisson link function with robust error variance and adjustment for age , sex , health care use because of AR , and use of antihistamines . RESULTS In a total of 2431 ( 2.0 % ) patients , AIT was started in 2006 . Asthma was newly diagnosed from 2007 - 2012 in 1646 ( 1.4 % ) patients . The risk of incident asthma was significantly lower in patients exposed to AIT ( RR , 0.60 ; 95 % CI , 0.42 - 0.84 ) compared with patients receiving no AIT in 2006 . Sensitivity analyses suggested significant preventive effects of subcutaneous immunotherapy ( RR , 0.54 ; 95 % CI , 0.38 - 0.84 ) and AIT including native ( nonallergoid ) allergens ( RR , 0.22 ; 95 % CI , 0.02 - 0.68 ) . AIT for 3 or more years tended to have stronger preventive effects than AIT for less than 3 years . CONCLUSION AIT effectively prevents  asthma in patients with AR in a real-world setting . Confounding by indication can not be excluded but would lead to an underestimation of the true preventive effects of AIT BACKGROUND We wondered whether short-term coseasonal sublingual immunotherapy ( SLIT ) can reduce the development of  asthma in children with hay fever in an open r and omized study . OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether SLIT is as effective as subcutaneous immunotherapy in reducing hay fever symptoms and the development of asthma in children with hay fever . METHODS One hundred thirteen children aged 5 to 14 years ( mean age , 7.7 years ) with hay fever limited to grass pollen and no other clinical ly important allergies were r and omized in an open study involving 6 Italian pediatric allergy centers to receive specific SLIT for 3 years or st and ard symptomatic therapy . All of the subjects had hay fever symptoms , but at the time of study entry , none reported seasonal asthma with more than 3 episodes per season . Symptomatic treatment was limited to cetirizine , loratadine , nasal budesonide , and salbutamol on dem and . The hay fever and asthma symptoms were quantified clinical ly . RESULTS The actively treated children used less medication in the second and third years of therapy , and their symptom scores tended to be lower . From the second year of immunotherapy , subjective evaluation of overall allergy symptoms was favorable in the actively treated children . Development of asthma after 3 years was 3.8 times more frequent ( 95 % confidence limits , 1.5 - 10.0 ) in the control subjects . CONCLUSIONS Three years of coseasonal SLIT improves seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms and reduces the development of seasonal asthma  in children with hay fever BACKGROUND Allergen specific immunotherapy is the only specific and curative approach in the treatment of IgE-mediated allergic diseases such as bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis . The safety and clinical efficacy of this treatment are well documented but data on the prevention of new sensitizations remain scarce . OBJECTIVE To demonstrate the efficacy of specific immunotherapy in allergic respiratory diseases in childhood and to determine whether this treatment prevents the development of new sensitizations in children sensitized to house dust mite or pollen species . METHODS Fifty-six patients received specific immunotherapy ( 43 sensitive to house dust mite and 13 sensitive to pollen ) . Fifty-one patients not receiving immunotherapy but treated with pharmacotherapy were enrolled in the control group . The patients were followed-up for at least 4 years and treatment efficacy and the development of new sensitizations were compared between the two groups . RESULTS The number of patients with symptoms was significantly decreased in both groups at the end of the treatment period . No new sensitizations were found in 35 of the 43 ( 81.39 % ) patients in the house dust mite immunotherapy group and in 10 of 13 ( 76.92 % ) patients in the pollen immunotherapy group . In contrast , 20 of 51 ( 39.21 % ) patients in the control group showed new sensitizations . The difference between the house dust mite and pollen immunotherapy groups and the control group in this parameter was statistically significant ( p = 0.033 ) . CONCLUSION Our data demonstrate that administration of specific immunotherapy in allergic patients significantly reduced symptoms and the development of new sensitivities BACKGROUND Children with allergic rhinitis are likely to develop asthma . OBJECTIVE The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether specific immunotherapy can prevent the development of asthma and reduce bronchial hyperresponsiveness in children with seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis . METHODS From 6 pediatric allergy centers , 205 children aged 6 to 14 years ( mean age , 10.7 years ) with grass and /or birch pollen allergy but without any other clinical ly important allergy were r and omized either to receive specific immunotherapy for 3 years or to an open control group . All subjects had moderate to severe hay fever symptoms , but at inclusion none reported asthma with need of daily treatment . Symptomatic treatment was limited to loratadine , levocabastine , sodium cromoglycate , and nasal budesonide .  Asthma was evaluated clinical ly and by peak flow . Methacholine bronchial provocation tests were carried out during the season(s ) and during the winter . RESULTS Before the start of immunotherapy , 20 % of the children had mild asthma symptoms during the pollen season(s ) . Among those without asthma , the actively treated children had significantly fewer asthma symptoms after 3 years as evaluated by clinical diagnosis ( odds ratio , 2.52 ; P < .05 ) . Methacholine bronchial provocation test results improved significant in the active group ( P < .05 ) . CONCLUSION Immunotherapy can reduce the development of asthma in children with seasonal rhinoconjunctivitis Background : Limited data exist regarding extended , long-term immunologic effects of immunotherapy in polysensitized individuals . To study possible long-term effects , skin tests and specific IgE levels were obtained from subjects who had previously received broad-spectrum aeroallergen immunotherapy years before . Methods : Eighty-two subjects ( 78 % male , mean age 23 years ) previously enrolled in a r and omized , placebo-controlled trial of immunotherapy for treatment of childhood allergic asthma were reevaluated in adulthood ( mean follow-up interval , 10.8 years ) by puncture skin tests and CAP-RAST levels for major aeroallergens . All completed at least 18 months ( median 27 months ) of maintenance active treatment or placebo injections without subsequent immunotherapy . Results : At adult follow-up , 36 % of all skin tests to treatment allergens among subjects who received immunotherapy ( n = 41 ) had significantly reduced intensity versus 26 % of skin tests among placebo recipients ( n = 41 ; p = 0.03 ) . No significant differences were noted for individual treatment allergens . No significant differences were observed in the long-term changes of serum-specific IgE antibody levels for all treatment allergens between immun 
    Output:
    
AIT appeared to have an acceptable side effect profile .
CONCLUSIONS AIT did not result in a statistically significant reduction in the risk of developing a first allergic disease .
There was , however , evidence of a reduced short-term risk of developing asthma in those with allergic rhinitis , but it is unclear whether this benefit was maintained over the longer term .
We are unable to comment on the cost-effectiveness of AIT