Hay fever can be the most debilitating condition for a child not only making them feel awful but preventing them sleeping, and affecting both their social lives and school work. Children with hay fever are 40% more likely to drop a grade between their mock GCSE exams (in the winter) and their final exams (in peak hay fever season) than their hay fever-free peers.

For many years the only treatment for the condition has been antihistamines, which often cause drowsiness and do nothing to address the underlying problem. So the development of a childrens’ version of the successful immunotherapy treatment, Grazax, will be enthusiastically welcomed by thousands of sneezing families – especially since Grazax is administered as a pill under the tongue rather than being injected under the skin.

Studies on adults have shown not only a significant decrease in symptoms while taking Grazax but that the improvement holds for several years afterwards. A recent study on children at the Ruhr University in Germany showed that hay fever symptoms were 24% less pronounced in children taking Grazax than in those who were not.
NHS financial boffins have computed that, at £2.25 a day, Grazax is a more cost-effective way of dealing with childhood hay fever than the current range of treatments. What good news!
www.grazax.com

Click here for more research on possible treatments for hay fever

First Published in April 2009

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