Early tests promising for hay-fever vaccine

BALTIMORE — Scientists are reporting encouraging results from early tests of a vaccine they hope will give long-lasting relief from the sneezy, runny-eyed misery of hay fever.

The experimental vaccine has been tested on only a couple dozen people so far, but it substantially relieved symptoms for those who received it in six weekly shots, and the benefit lasted for at least two years, doctors reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

The vaccine "holds great promise," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped fund the study. "A short course of immunotherapy that reduces allergic symptoms over an extended period of time will significantly improve the quality of life for many people."

Up to 40 million Americans suffer from hay fever, caused by an allergy to ragweed pollen, which is most common in the Northeast, Midwest and the South, especially in late summer and early fall.

To relieve symptoms, many take antihistamines and other medications. But the only option for longer-lasting relief has been dozens of shots over three to five years to try to desensitize the immune system. This helps only about a third of patients, and many of them give up before the series of shots is completed. There is also the risk of an allergic reaction to the shots.

The study tested a vaccine made by California-based Dynavax Technologies. It was led by Dr. Peter Creticos, director of Johns Hopkins University's Asthma and Allergy Center, and included researchers from the company.

The company plans a larger study of the vaccine.