Maintenance venom immunotherapy administered at a 3-month interval preserves safety and efficacy and improves adherence

Background: hymenoptera venom immunotherapy (vit) is a safe and effective approach to insect sting allergy. however,after discontinuation,relapses can occur in some patients,especially those with a high occupational risk,and they may need to prolong vit indefinitely. in order to improve adherence,we propose extending the interval between injections of maintenance vit (mvit). objective: to evaluate the safety,efficacy,and patient acceptance of a 3-month interval between mvit injections in a group of hymenopteraallergic patients who are occupationally exposed to insect stings. patients and methods: we included 72 patients with severe systemic reactions to hymenoptera stings. mvit was administered for 4 years at intervals increasing up to 3 months and then continued for a further 2 years. patients were informed of the risk of relapse after discontinuation and of the need for indefinite treatment at 3-month intervals. results: during the 3-month interval maintenance phase,only 235 local reactions (17.8%) were observed in 17 patients. sixty patients experienced 125 field re-stings and only 1 experienced a systemic reaction with generalized urticaria. conclusions: the study confirms that the conventional mvit interval of 4 to 6 weeks can be extended to 3 months in most patients with no adverse events,while maintaining safety and efficacy,improving adherence,and guaranteeing safe continuation of professional activity. © 2010 esmon publicidad.