Sufferers of hayfever dread the onset of the sneezing season, but a daily tablet could soon change that.
Researchers have been investigating a treatment option that can induce changes in immune cell memory, reducing allergic reactions to triggers such as grass pollen.
Dawn is from South Australia and says she fears the onset of spring every year — she gets itchy eyes, a runny nose and uncontrollable sneezing.
"It's just annoying, it upsets your routine," she said.
"It can also be quite embarrassing, especially at the moment because everyone thinks you might be contagious with something else."
Now, scientists at Monash University say they are a little closer to unlocking some answers for sufferers like Dawn, with the help of a daily pill containing tiny doses of grass pollens.
The treatment desensitises against rye grass pollen allergy, which can also trigger sudden and severe asthma, including thunderstorm asthma.
Professor Menno Van Zelm, head of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Laboratory at Monash University, said the treatment can reprogram the immune system to reduce allergic reactions.
"We evaluated what changes in the immune system when people are taking this tablet," he said.
"We know that this form of medication works for many people [but] interestingly, we don't know exactly how it works and what changes in the immune system are needed to make sure it works."
Study shows long-term benefits
Exposure therapy is not a new concept but what this research has unlocked is an understanding of just how the immune system remembers.
A study of 27 Victorians found that 92 per cent of people who took the tablets for four months for three consecutive years continued to report benefits two years later.
The study has shown good results for many people who have taken the tablet over a three-year course, but Professor van Zelm says his team identified "biomarkers of immunity" – which became apparent in some patients after just four months.
He says these biomarkers could help doctors identify if that patient will benefit from the full course.
"We've now uncovered some clues about that and we think we can use that to identify early changes that will predict if somebody will benefit from the treatment or not," he said.
"At the moment, because patients have to take this for three years, there is a clear associated cost with it, and people have to take it every day so it's very difficult to keep everybody taking the medication, especially if you don't know if it will work.
"We hope it will motivate people, especially those where we do see the change that indeed it is working, and if you keep taking it it will give you prolonged effects."
Hayfever a hindrance to everyday tasks
Hayfever sufferer Dawn says the treatment could give some welcome relief to her and her family.
"I have two adult children who also suffer quite severely with it," she said.
"One of those is out on the road every day and he finds that his hayfever affects his capacity to work."
The Monash team will also test the effectiveness of the treatment against other common allergens such as house dust mites.
"It's the same sort of treatment and the same test — we just adjust it to measure the cells that respond to house dust mites and we're currently doing that," Professor Van Zelm said.
"We've done the same for bee venom allergy and we see the same changes happening there."
