***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 Data on the long-term effects of sublingual immunotherapy ( SLIT ) are sparse , and the optimal duration of treatment is a matter of debate . OBJECTIVE We sought to prospect ively evaluate the long-term effect of SLIT given for 3 , 4 , or 5 years and to compare the effect of those different duration s. METHODS In this prospect i ve open controlled study we followed up patients with respiratory allergy who were monosensitized to mites for 15 years . The subjects were divided in 4 groups receiving drug therapy alone or SLIT for 3 , 4 , or 5 years . Clinical scores , skin sensitizations , methacholine reactivity , and nasal eosinophil counts were evaluated every year during the winter months . The clinical effect was considered to persist until clinical scores remained at less than 50 % of the baseline value , and then patients underwent another course of SLIT . RESULTS Seventy-eight patients were enrolled , and 59 completed the study . In the 12 control subjects no relevant change in clinical scores was seen throughout the study . In the patients receiving SLIT for 3 years , the clinical benefit persisted for 7 years . In those receiving immunotherapy for 4 or 5 years , the clinical benefit persisted for 8 years . New sensitizations occurred in all the control subjects over 15 years and in less than a quarter of the patients receiving SLIT ( 21 % , 12 % , and 11 % , respectively ) . The second course of vaccination induced a benefit more rapidly than the first course . The behavior of bronchial hyperreactivity and nasal eosinophils paralleled the clinical score . CONCLUSION Under the present conditions , it can be suggested that a 4-year duration of SLIT is the optimal choice because it induces a long-lasting clinical improvement similar to that seen with a 5-year course and greater than that of a 3-year vaccination 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 Thirty children with rhinoconjunctivitis due to birch pollinosis were treated in a double blind manner for 10 months with enteric‐coated capsules containing either a birch pollen preparation ( n= 14 ) with doses up to 1.4 × 106 biologic units per day or placebo ( n= 16 ) . Compared with the placebo group the actively treated children had less symptoms during the birch pollen season after 3 months of therapy ( P = 0.035 ) . Skin prick reactions decreased significantly more in the active group than in the placebo group after 10 months ( P = 0.01 ) . Conjunctival sensitivity was lower in the active group than in the placebo group after 3 months of treatment ( P = 0.01 ) but not after 10 months . Compared with the placebo group treated children more often increased their levels of IgG ( P= 0.007 ) and pre‐seasonal IgE ( P= 0.001 ) against birch . There was a seasonal increase of IgE antibody level against birch in the placebo but not in the treatment group ( P < 0.001 ) . None of the treated children developed asthma , compared with five of the untreated children . No general reactions occurred and few side effects were seen during the treatment period . We conclude that in children with birch pollinosis oral immunotherapy with high doses of a biologically potent preparation in enteric‐coated capsules is effective , easy to perform , economic and safe BACKGROUND Atopic diseases are among the most common chronic diseases in adolescents , and it is uncertain whether the prevalence of atopic diseases has reached a plateau or is still increasing . The use of the ISAAC ( International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood ) question naire has provided comparable prevalence rates from many countries , whereas studies including clinical examinations and strict diagnostic criteria are scarce . We aim ed to investigate the prevalence of atopic diseases , the pattern of sensitization , and comorbidities at 14 years in a prospect i ve birth cohort . METHODS The children were examined eight times from birth to 14 years . Visits included question naire-based interviews , clinical examination , skin prick test , and specific IgE. RESULTS Follow-up rate at 14 years was 66.2 % . The 12-month prevalence of any atopic disease was high ( 40.3 % ) mostly due to a high prevalence of rhinoconjunctivitis ( 32.8 % ) , whereas the prevalence of asthma was 12.9 % and of atopic dermatitis 8.1 % . In children with at least one atopic disease , 60 % were sensitized , while only 16 % of those without atopic diseases were sensitized . The frequency of sensitization depended on the phenotype . Among children with rhinoconjunctivitis only , rhinoconjunctivitis with concomitant asthma or atopic dermatitis or both 62.5 % , 81.5 % , 70 % , and 100 % , respectively , were sensitized , whereas it was 7.7 % and 33.3 % of children with only asthma or atopic dermatitis . CONCLUSION The prevalence of rhinoconjunctivitis was high in adolescence . Children with rhinoconjunctivitis with and without comorbidities were frequently sensitized . Children with asthma without concomitant allergic rhinoconjunctivitis were rarely sensitized 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 sympt 
    Output:
    
Our key recommendation is that a 3-year course of subcutaneous or sublingual AIT can be recommended for children and adolescents with moderate-to-severe allergic rhinitis ( AR ) triggered by grass/birch pollen allergy to prevent asthma for up to 2 years post-AIT in addition to its sustained effect on AR symptoms and medication .