Scientists have developed a vaccine for hay fever that could take effect within just four weeks, a report in New Scientist magazine reveals.
A study involving 1,028 volunteers found that those who were given the Pollinex Quattro vaccine - which is administered in four doses over four weeks - benefited from a 13 per cent reduction in the severity of symptoms during the peak hay fever season compared with those given a dummy drug.
The findings are due to be presented to the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology by its creators at Allergy Therapeutics in the UK, who hope that the vaccine could be approved next year.
Neil Kao, an allergy doctor in South Carolina, US, told the New Scientist: 'The size of symptom relief is small, but the convenience is very high.'
Estimates suggest that one fifth of people in the UK suffer from hay fever, which is caused by an overactive immune response to pollen.
The vaccine works by introducing a modified pollen protein which evades the body's antibodies, enabling the body to build up immunity.
A study involving 1,028 volunteers found that those who were given the Pollinex Quattro vaccine - which is administered in four doses over four weeks - benefited from a 13 per cent reduction in the severity of symptoms during the peak hay fever season compared with those given a dummy drug.
The findings are due to be presented to the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology by its creators at Allergy Therapeutics in the UK, who hope that the vaccine could be approved next year.
Neil Kao, an allergy doctor in South Carolina, US, told the New Scientist: 'The size of symptom relief is small, but the convenience is very high.'
Estimates suggest that one fifth of people in the UK suffer from hay fever, which is caused by an overactive immune response to pollen.
The vaccine works by introducing a modified pollen protein which evades the body's antibodies, enabling the body to build up immunity.
Labels: Allergy - Asthma News
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