Development of new sensitizations in asthmatic children monosensitized to house dust mite by specific immunotherapy.

1 SUMMARY It has been hypothesized that specific immunotherapy (SIT) significantly decreases the development of new allergen sensitizations in mono-sensitized patients. In this study, we evaluated the effect of SIT on the de- velopment of new allergen sensitizations in 129 asthmatic children mono-sensitized to house dust mite. SIT was accepted by only 70 of them (SIT group). The remaining 59 children were treated only with medication (control group). At the end of the study we found that 33% of all patients developed new sensitizations. Surprisingly, the prevalence of new sensitizations was significantly higher in the SIT group (45.5%) than in the control group (18.1 %). Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior), Olive and Meadow fescue (Festuca elatior) were the most common allergens re- sponsible for the new sensitizations. We conclude that SIT did not prevent the onset of new sensitizations in asth- matic children mono-sensitized to house dust mite.