Introduction: Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) has been proved safe and convenient for the patients.However,it remains so difficult to compare the adverse effects among studies (missing data, subjective assessement?).
Methods: It is a prospective, longitudinal study including patients affected with allergic rhintis with/without mild or moderate allergic asthma due to senstization to grass pollen or house dust mites; with a positive Prick-Test.We excluded the patients who presented contra-indications to SLIT or those who refused to participate to our study.We used the international classification to grade the SLIT-induced local side effects severity.
Results:146 patients with a mean age of 18 years were enrolled.Allergic rhintis was reported in 135 cases (seasonal (9.7%),perennial (83.4%)) and an associated allergic asthma in 115 cases (seasonal (8.9%) ,perennial (71.5%)).They have received grass pollen in (3 cases (2.1%), house dust mites in (128 cases (90.1%) or both in (11 cases (7.7%).Regular intake was reported in (80.6%). Most of them had a significant clinical improvement in (93.8%). However,20 patients (13.7%) had SLIT-induced adverse effects. In fact, we noticed oropharyngeal symptoms in (17 cases (11.6%)).They complained of oral pruritus in (17 cases (11.9%)).It was mild in (16 cases (11.2%) and moderate in (1 case (0.7%)).Mild itching of the oral mucosae was reported in (5 cases (3.5%).Mild swelling of the lips was seen in (2 cases (1.4%).Mild swelling of the tongue was reported in (1 case (0.7%).Besides ,we noticed mild gastro-intestinal problems in (4 cases (2.9%)).
To conclude,our study shows that the SLIT has a good profile of safety.