Cat Allergy Vaccine Safe and Effective

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110331163534.htm

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2011) — Good-bye itching, watering eyes and sneezing. McMaster University researchers have developed a vaccine which successfully treats people with an allergy to cats.

Traditionally, frequent allergy shots have been considered the most effective way to bring relief -- other than getting rid of the family pet -- for the eight to 10% of the population allergic to cats.

Both options -- one difficult and costly, the other troubling -- may now be tossed aside thanks to the work of immunologist Mark Larché, professor in the Department of Medicine in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and Canada Research Chair in Allergy & Immune Tolerance.

Building on research he's conducted for the past 10 years in Canada and Britain, Larché and his research team have developed a vaccine which is effective and safe with almost no side effects. The research is published in a recent (January 2011) issue of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

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