LOC12:01
09:01 GMT
LONDON, June 22 (KUNA) -- A jab that could spare millions from the misery
of allergies may be available in only four years, it was revealed here
Tuesday.
The one-size-fits-all injection would ward off everything from hay fever
and asthma to reactions to cat fur and dust, doctors said.
Even peanut allergies could BE stopped through the jab, its inventors
believe.
The news will be particularly welcomed by Britains 15million hay fever
sufferers, who, if forecasts are correct, are today sniffing and sneezing
their way through their worst day of the year. Known as Hay Day, June 22 marks
the peak of the grass pollen season, according to researchers.
The jab would be the "holy grail" of vaccine research.
Its beauty lies in the fact that one recipe would protect against multiple
allergies, cutting costs and making it easier to manufacture and administer.
Dr. Wolfgang Renner, from the jab's inventors "Cytos Biotechnology", told
the Daily Mail newspaper: "We think it is a one-size-fits-all mechanism. We
are very excited about it."
A recent trial showed that a course of the vaccine was at least as good as
steroids at keeping asthma under control.
The UK's leading hay fever expert Professor Jean Emberlin conducted the
research for the Hay Fever Health Report 2010.
She said: "Warm, dry weather with a gentle breeze creates the ideal
conditions for pollen to circulate.
Giving the vaccine cut asthma attacks and symptoms by at third.
Overall, the results suggested that the jab was at least as good as
powerful steroids at keeping a lid on the condition.
In another trial, an injection a week for six weeks cut the runny noses and
weepy eyes of house dust mite allergy and reliance on medicines by almost 39
per cent. (end)
he.aj
KUNA 221201 Jun 10NNNN