Allergen immunotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic-A survey of the German Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Pfaar O, Hamelmann E, Klimek L, et al. Allergen immunotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic-A survey of the German Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Clinical and Translational Allergy. 2022;12(3): e12134.BACKGROUND: When the coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) emerged, concerns were also raised regarding the safety of allergen immunotherapy (AIT). The German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI) conducted a survey to collect real-world data on the daily routine of administering subcutaneous AIT (SCIT) and sublingual AIT (SLIT) during the COVID-19 pandemic.; METHODS: A web-based retrospective survey using the online platform survio with 26 standardized questions was used to survey physicians treating allergic patients during the pandemic.; RESULTS: Three hundred and forty-five physicians who regularly offer and perform AIT in German-speaking countries responded to the questions. 70.4% of the respondents stated that they regularly initiated and dosed up SCIT for inhalant allergies (41.4% venom-SCIT, 73.6% SLIT), and 85.2% of the respondents stated that they continued SCIT for inhalant allergies during the maintenance phase in a regular way (59.1% venom-SCIT, 90.4% SLIT) in healthy patients without current symptoms indicating an infection with COVID-19. With regard to tolerability, there was no evidence for increased occurrence of adverse events in patients without current symptoms of COVID-19 infection during the pandemic.; CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study demonstrated adherence to national and international position papers of AIT during the COVID-19 pandemic in German-speaking countries. Besides, the survey has confirmed a good tolerability of AIT for both SCIT and SLIT. © 2022 The Authors. Clinical and Translational Allergy published by John Wiley& Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology