Leaps and Bounds in Allergen Immunotherapy

It has been almost one hundred ten years since allergen immunotherapy (AIT) was first recognized as a treatment for allergic diseases by the English physicians, Noon and Freeman. However, it was applied thousands of years earlier. Snake handlers learned that if they swam in snake-infested waters, they would acquire immunity to the cobra ’s venom.1 This was likely the first use of oral immunotherapy (OIT) because the snake-infested waters contained venom, and the snake handlers swallowed it as they swam.
Source: Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Preface Source Type: research