Kims clinic rekindles hope for allergy patients

Immunotherapy shows remarkable results in treating a number of conditions.

Bangalore is slowly getting the sobriquet of Allergy Capital for its erratic weather, unpredictable temperature, pollution by traffic (both dust and smoke) and the disappearing green cover.

With such environment, it is quite natural for people to develop a host of allergies with dust mites and pollen being the most common.

There is a belief that allergies cannot be treated. But, the Allergy Clinic at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (Kims) has proved it wrong by treating many patients for the past several years for different kinds of allergies. The treatment known as ‘immunotherapy’ has shown remarkable results for those with dust mite and pollen allergy.

Dr Giriyanna Gowda, an allergy specialist at the clinic, says more than 1,000 patients suffering from different allergies have been treated using subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in the form of injections and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in the form of drops, mainly for children.

“Our clinic has treated patients from five to 60 years of age. At present, over 200 patients are undergoing treatment. There are 104 different types of allergies categorised under fungi, dust, insect, epithelia (allergy due to animal’s fur, skin), veg and non-veg food that we are treating at present, with dust mites and pollen being the common allergens,” he explained.

Dr Gowda said there were only a handful of private clinics treating allergies using immunotherapy. On an institutional level, Kims is the only hospital in Bangalore treating patients at a larger scale, he contended. The hospital provides customised medicines to patients, supplied by Credisol from Mumbai and Allergopharma from Germany.

Case studies

Janardhan, 13, was suffering from allergy for the past many years and had developed severe wheezing whenever there was an attack.

He was even admitted to a private hospital where he was administered steroids due to which he had developed cramps.

Despite undergoing various treatments and changing inhalers, Janardhan’s condition did not improve until his worried parents came across the Allergy Clinic at Kims a year ago.
Janardhan’s father D L Krishna says it has been a boon for them as Janardhan’s allergic conditions were controlled to a large extent.

“None of us in the family or anyone of our ancestors had any form of allergy. Janardhan’s condition was so bad we always avoided giving him ice cream or any cold item. Later, when we learnt about the allergy clinic in KIMS, we also learnt that our son was allergic to pollens. Since our house is surrounded by flowering trees, it was quite natural for my son to develop pollen allergy,” he added.

Similarly, V Sriharsha, an engineering student, was suffering from dust mite allergy for the past eight years.

He says he was so used to inhalers and nebulisers that his system had become immune to them and stopped reacting.

“Whenever I had attacks, I could not sleep at night and had recurring sneezing and cold. I had become very anxious with the antibiotics and other medicines which had failed to control my allergy,” he added.