Abstract
Objective: To investigate whether severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection increases the adverse
reactions of subcutaneous specific immunotherapy in children.
Methods: This study was conducted by collecting relevant data
from children who underwent house dust mite SCIT from April 3, 2021 to
March 18, 2023, including information on the time of COVID-19 infection,
symptoms, and adverse reactions after each allergen injection. A
mixed-effects model was used to analyze the changes in adverse reactions
before and after COVID-19 infection. Results: Among the records
of adverse reactions from 2658 injections in 123 children who underwent
SCIT, the overall adverse reaction rate before COVID-19 infection was
39.8% and 30.0% after COVID-19 infection. Compared with pre-infection
with COVID-19, the risks of overall adverse reactions, local adverse
reactions, and systemic adverse reactions of desensitization treatment
after COVID-19 infection were reduced (OR = 0.24, 0.31, and 0.28, all P
<0.05). Among the local adverse reactions, the incidence of
the unvaccinated group was the highest (15.3% vs. 7.1%). The incidence
of overall and local adverse reactions to SCIT decreased in 2-vaccinated
COVID-19 recipients (OR = 0.29–0.31, P <0.05)
Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 infection does not increase the
incidence of adverse reactions to SCIT in children. SCIT can be
performed according to the course of treatment after the SARS-CoV-2
infection is controlled, just like with other common infectious
diseases.