Original Articles

Utilization of antiallergenic vacines in Aragon along year 2001

Background and objectives: The allergy represents a health problem of increasing importance. Therefore, the knowledge of the particular allergens and its distribution over the population is interesting. Since the vaccines containing immunotherapic extracts are one basic treatment for this pathology, through the analysis of the composition of the preparations used it’s possible to know the main allergens representing the problem.

Material and methods: Prescriptions of antiallergenic vaccines made by the doctors of the Spain’s National Health System in the three provinces of Aragon along the year 2001. Results: The distribution of the relative amount of vaccinations is very different in the three provinces, being nearly three times in Huesca in comparison with Zaragoza, though with a very similar seasonal nature along the year. The treatments are usually initiated by allergologists. The 44,5% of the total vaccines contained some gramineae, followed in importance by chenopodiaceae, mites, hymenoptera, oleaceae and preparations of bacteria.

Conclusions: It’s difficult to explain the difference in the rate of use in the three provinces only by the characteristics of the population, being probable the influence of the resources and the organization of the health care system. In despite of the prominent role of the treatments with preparations containing gramineae pollens, its associations don’t seem to be standardized or homologated, they are different in each commercial preparation; that’s why the focusing of this therapy results too empirical and scarcely precise. It seems necessary a consensus in the professional criteria of the units of Allergology in our Community.

Key words: Allergens. Gramineae. Immunotherapy. Mites. Pollens.