Natural rubber latex sublingual immunotherapy is safe in children who are allergic to latex, according to prospective observational study results.
The 12-month case-control study, conducted in Spain, included 23 patients, aged 5 to 18 years, who were diagnosed with a latex allergy. Eighteen patients (nine male) received natural rubber latex sublingual immunotherapy (NRL SLIT); the other five patients (three male) chose not to receive the immunotherapy and served as controls.
Researchers chose SLIT with an NRL extract for the study because of inherent problems with SLIT’s alternative, subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT). Though proven effective, SCIT is associated with undesirable systemic and local reactions that make its use unacceptable for children, investigators said.
All participants were tested using several methods, including skin prick, conjunctival provocation and in-use tests with NRL. The active cohort was administered NRL SLIT, and those patients received additional immunotherapy at 6 and 12 months.
Six patients (33%) developed local reactions during the initiation phase. Five patients presented with oral pruritus, and one with atopic dermatitis. No patient dropped out of the study or needed readjusted NRL SLIT because of adverse effects.
“Our results support previous trials affirming NRL SLIT is a safe treatment for children with latex allergy,” researchers concluded.
Disclosure: Researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.