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A local researcher is giving much needed relief to allergy sufferers after this week's rainy weather.
Breathing has been a challenge lately for University of Maryland graduate student, Dorien Couch. The high pollen count this past week caused such a severe reaction, he ended up in th emergency room with troubled breathing. "I just came from the hospital last night so I'd say, if you have a scale of one to 10, it's probably a 10."
Couch decided to talk to his allergist about restarting allergy shots, the same kind he received when he was a kid.
Shelby Rothrock had been getting allergy shots for more than 12 years, she said they've kept her nearly constant allergies in check, as long as she'd continue to get the shots.
"You usually start out about twice a week, then you go once a week, once every two weeks, and i'm doing them about once a month now," said Rothrock. "
"If you could put whatever they put in the shot inside of a pill, I mean, I would rather take that, then taking out time to come down here and get a shot."
The idea of making the shot into a pill is what Dr. Peter Creticos is trying to make into reality. Dr. Creticos is one of the nation's leading seasonal allergy researchers at Johns Hopkins University. "I think we are reasonably close to being able to control the allergic diathesis, control the underlying allergic problem," he said.
Dr. Creticos is studying treatments that can be taken orally, and is testing a possible ragweed vaccine.
"Two shots a month for four, five, or six years, much more appealing would be, four, five, or six shots over six weeks and be protected for several years, now that's very exciting," Dr. Creticos said.
In the meantime, Montgomery County (web|news) Allergist Dr. Michael Kaliner says there is relief out in the market for allergy sufferers and that it's just a matter of finding the right medicines for your situation.
"Everybody comes in to see us gets better, and that's with the medicines available today," said Dr. Kaliner.
The ragweed vaccine is still in clinical trials, so it will be a few years before anyone would know if it really works. Dr. Kaliner says everyone's allergies are a little different, so patients should see an allergy specialist to get a personalized diagnosis.
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