Publication:

Addressing the increasing incidence of allergic diseases in young working individuals and their effective management with sublingual immunotherapy in Mumbai

Background Allergic diseases are on an increase in office workers and students, as a result of climate change and environmental exposure. Our objective here was to define the role of the skin prick test in identifying common inhalant allergens in allergic rhinitis patients and selecting the allergens for optimum sublingual immunotherapy.

Methods 773 patients were tested in Mumbai from November 2018 to December 2023 by skin prick test. Sublingual Immunotherapy was initiated in 301 patients. Pre and post-therapy SNOT22 symptom score was noted for 3-6 months in a subset of 50 patients.

Results It was found that 52% were in the age group 20-40 with almost equal male /female ratio, 95% primarily had allergic rhinitis, house dust mite allergy 84%, pollen allergies were the next most common, 63% each being Prosopis and Amaranthus. 40% opted for sublingual immunotherapy, from which a subset of 50 patients, 35 %, showed significant improvement verified by statistical analysis in the first 6 months.

Conclusions It was found that 52% were in the age group 20-40 with almost equal male /female ratio, 95% primarily had allergic rhinitis, house dust mite allergy 84%, pollen allergies were the next most common, 63% each being Prosopis and Amaranthus. 40% opted for sublingual immunotherapy, from which a subset of 50 patients, 35%, showed significant improvement verified by statistical analysis in the first 6 months.