Vet Education Centre

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is a treatment option for dogs suffering from canine atopic dermatitis (CAD). It is the only form of treatment that addresses the cause of CAD and it is considered to be an effective and safe way to reduce clinical signs.

Hyposensitisation with immunotherapy has reported to be successful in 65-70% of cases. The earliest improvement is expected after 3 months but some dogs take 6-9 months to demonstrate improvement.

Allergens are selected based on history, clinical presentation and results from intradermal skin testing (IDST) or allergen-specific IgE serology testing.

Diagnosis relies on ruling out other diseases that can look like atopic dermatitis (AD) before identifying what your patient is allergic to by performing allergy testing.
Intradermal skin testing and allergen specific IgE serology are unsuitable for the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis and therefore cannot be used as screening tests.

Rule out “look–a-like” diseases causing pruritus.

1. Infections: bacterial and yeast – diagnose and treat appropriately.
2. Parasites: fleas, scabies, and mites – treat ectoparasites.
3. Cutaneous Adverse Food Reaction – perform a food elimination trial.
4. Contact Allergy – isolate from suspected irritants inside and/or outside the home.

Should you be convinced that all the above have been ruled out and have confirmed a diagnosis of atopic dermatitis, then you should perform an intradermal skin test or IgE serology test. Your local dermatology specialist can perform the intradermal skin testing.

You may forward the report to the Dermcare immunotherapy team, and from your results they will formulate a recipe specific for your patient.

If you would like an immunotherapy vaccine created, please request an order form from the Immunotherapy team.

For further queries on our immunotherapy products, please call the Dermcare head office on +61 7 3387 9700 or email us at .