Allergen immunotherapy, also known as desensitization or hypo-sensitization, is a medical treatment for environmental allergies, such as insect bites, and asthma. Immunotherapy involves exposing people to larger and larger amounts of allergen in an attempt to change the immune systems response.Meta-analyses have found that injections of allergens under the skin are effective in the treatment in allergic rhinitis in children and in asthma. The benefits may last for years after treatment is stopped. It is generally safe and effective for allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, allergic forms of asthma, and stinging insects. The evidence also supports the use of sublingual immunotherapy against rhinitis and asthma, but it is less strong. In this form the allergen is given under the tongue and people often prefer it to injections. Immunotherapy is not recommended as a stand-alone treatment for asthma.Side effects during sublingual immunotherapy treatment are usually local and mild and can often be eliminated by adjusting the dosage. Anaphylaxis during sublingual immunotherapy treatment has occurred on rare occasions.Potential side effects related to subcutaneous immunotherapy treatment for asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis include mild or moderate skin or respiratory reactions. Severe side effects such as anaphylaxis during subcutaneous immunotherapy treatment are relatively uncommon.Discovered by Leonard Noon and John Freeman in 1911, allergen immunotherapy is the only medicine known to tackle not only the symptoms but also the causes of respiratory allergies. A detailed diagnosis is necessary to identify the allergens involved.
Prevention
Cystic echinococcosis
There are several different strategies that are currently being used to prevent and control cystic echinococcosis (CE). Most of these various methods try to prevent and control CE by targeting the major risk factors for the disease and the way it is transmitted. For instance, health education programs focused on cystic echinococcosis and its agents, and improved water sanitation attempt to target poor education and poor drinking water sources, which are both risk factors for contracting echinococcosis. Furthermore, since humans often come into contact with Echinococcus eggs via touching contaminated soil, animal feces and animal hair, another prevention strategy is improved hygiene. In addition to targeting risk factors and transmission, control and prevention strategies of cystic echinococcosis also aim at intervening at certain points of the parasites life cycle, in particular, the infection of hosts (especially dogs) that reside with or near humans. For example, many countries endemic to echinococcosis have researched programs geared at de-worming dogs and vaccinating dogs and other livestock, such as sheep, that also act as hosts for E. granulosus.Proper disposal of carcasses and offal after home slaughter is difficult in poor and remote communities and therefore dogs readily have access to offal from livestock, thus completing the parasite cycle of Echinococcus granulosus and putting communities at risk of cystic echinococcosis. Boiling livers and lungs that contain hydatid cysts for 30 minutes has been proposed as a simple, efficient and energy- and time-saving way to kill the infectious larvae.