INTRANASALLY ADMINISTERED IMMUNOGLOBULIN FOR THE PREVENTION OF RHINITIS IN CHILDREN

Objective. To determine the efficacy of intranasally administered immu noglobulin in preventing symptoms of rhinitis in children. Methods. Fo rty children ages 1 to 4 years who attended day-care centers in Turku, Finland, were enrolled in the double blind, placebo-controlled study. The children were randomly assigned to receive treatment with immunog lobulin, composed mainly of immunoglobulin A, or placebo, both adminis tered as nasal sprays twice daily for 8 weeks. During this medication period and an additional 8-week follow-up period, the parents recorded the symptoms of the children daily in the diaries provided. One child who met an exclusion criterion was withdrawn from the study after a f ew days of medication. Results. During the 8-week medication period th e 19 children in the immunoglobulin group had 42% fewer days with rhin itis than the 20 children receiving placebo (mean, 10.8 vs. 18.7 days; P = 0.004). The total numbers of episodes of rhinitis in the immunogl obulin and placebo groups were 33 and 51, respectively. No significant differences were observed between the groups during the postmedicatio n follow-up period. Conclusions. Intranasal administration of immunogl obulin appears to be an effective method to prevent symptoms of rhinit is in children, and further studies of this approach are needed.