Accelerated Immunotherapy Schedules and Premedication

Subcutaneous immunotherapy is divided into a buildup and a maintenance phase. Accelerated immunotherapy has the advantage of a reduced number of office visits. Rush and cluster immunotherapy schedules are the most common accelerated schedules used in the United States. A cluster immunotherapy schedule involves the patient receiving several allergen injections sequentially in a single day of treatment on nonconsecutive days. The maintenance dose is reached in 4 to 8 weeks. In rush immunotherapy protocols, higher doses are administered at intervals of 15 to 60 minutes in a period of 1 to 3 days until the maintenance dose is achieved.