VIENNA, 6 Feb - RIA Novosti, Margarita Kostiv. A vaccine against allergy to birch pollen, as well as nuts and apples may appear in the Russian Federation in 2022, Rudolf Valenta, a professor at the Medical University of Vienna, head of the department of immunopathology of the department of pathophysiology and allergy research, told RIA Novosti in an interview with RIA Novosti.
According to him, there are two main allergies in Russia - to birch and cat pollen, while both are equally important, since they affect almost 20% of the population.
“We patented the vaccine against birch pollen allergy with the University of Immunology, where I received a mega-grant in 2017 (for joint research with Professor Musa Khaitov). we will be able to vaccinate patients, the agency's interlocutor said.
He explained that allergy to birch pollen is also the reason for allergies to hazelnuts and apples, which are also widespread in Russia.
“The bottom line is that the allergen molecule in birch pollen is very similar to that in nuts and apples. This is a cross-reaction. In other words, if you develop antibodies to birch pollen, they react to both nuts and apples. Therefore, the vaccine against Allergy to birch pollen is also effective against allergy to food containing nuts and apples,”said Valenta.
