Vaccine to benefit asthma sufferers

A NEW asthma vaccine is expected to transform the lives of asthma sufferers in Ireland.

The country's 274,000 sufferers, as well as millions worldwide, could benefit from the research for a vaccine to combat asthma brought on by fur, dust and pollen allergies.

The research was carried out at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, London, and it showed a 50% reduction in reactions, with some sufferers left with only minor symptoms.

Work is now underway to make the vaccine effective for people whose asthma is caused by allergies to dust mites and pollen.

It was hoped the vaccine could be available within five years.

Dr Pat Manning, a medical committee member of the Irish Asthma

Society said the new vaccine would open up the opportunity for further leaps to be taken in the fight against the debilitating illness.

"This is a very good idea. It will turn off the asthmatic response by exposing the sufferer to small doses of the allergen. This treatment has great potential for future development for medicines to combat the illness.

"It holds a lot of hope for sufferers and is sure to hold great promise down the road but it is a long way off," said Dr Manning.

The research results for the new treatment known as a peptide vaccine were due to be unveiled at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.

The treatment works by desensitising the immune system so its reaction to a particular substance is reduced over time.

Patients are given injections of minute doses of substances to which they are allergic to stimulate a minor immune reaction from the body's natural defences.

It builds on advances made over 100 years ago when doctors discovered they could control severe reactions to hay fever by injecting patients with extracts of the grass pollen which caused their symptoms.

The drawback to this treatment was too much of an allergen could cause a fatal attack.

The new research has been developing ways of breaking the allergen into smaller sections peptides that are still effective but no longer dangerous.

"We have been fighting asthma with inhaled steroids for as long as 70 years and that has been successful but this has its own drawbacks for the patient," said Doctor Manning.

"The new treatment is similar to that tried in North America that fools the body to develop a tolerance. The new treatment is a further advance of this idea."

Asthma sufferers have airways that are almost always sensitive and inflamed. When someone with asthma comes into contact with an asthma trigger the muscles around the walls of the airways tighten, making it harder to breathe.