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Summary For patients who continue to suffer from uncontrolled symptoms associated with allergic Rhinitis, awareness and understanding of Allergy Immunotherapy (AIT), and more specifically Sublingual Immunotherapy Tablets (SLIT-Tablets) is suboptimal. ALK Canada intends to invest in the development of the website allergy.ca to increase awareness of AIT, SLIT-Tablets and which patients may be appropriate candidates for AIT. This brief will outline the key components that have been identified and that should be used in the development of allergy.ca TARGET AUDIENCE/FOCUS Persons Suffering from Allergies who may be candidates for Allergy Immunotherapy Allergies are a common condition for many Canadians for which the most common presentation is allergic rhinitis (AR). Signs and symptoms include a runny, or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy and watery eyes or swelling around the eyes. Market research has shown that many patients who suffer with allergies fall into the category of “silent sufferers”. A “ silent sufferer ” can be defined as someone who has allergies and either seeks out over the counter (OTC) meds such as antihistamines or who do not seek out treatment and choose to “put up” with their symptoms, particularly for those who suffer from seasonal allergies (grass, ragweed and tree for example). This may be due to lack of awareness of treatment options (, INCS, AIT), the perception that their family physician cannot help them, or the perception of patients that their condition does not warrant a visit to their physician ( my condition is not “worthy” of medical attention ). Given the above, it is not surprising that persistent relief of allergic rhinitis remains a major unmet need in Canada. Traditional treatments such as antihistamines and intranasal corticosteroids (INCS) do not always work. INCS is the most common prescription for AR yet as many as 50% of patients feel that INCS loses effectiveness within the first 24 hours and as many as 60% feel their symptoms are poorly controlled during their worst month of the year, leaving patients feeling dissatisfied. (Paul Keith et al, 2012, Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology). When symptoms are poorly controlled, these dissatisfied patients may seek alternative treatment options usually through referral to a specialist physician. The vast majority of these referrals are to Allergists, though some referrals end up going to ENT’s (Ear, Nose and Throat) or Respirologists. However, many patients are not given this option either because their physician does not feel like AR is a significant issue(physician indifference) that needs to be addressed, or because patients fail to ask their physician for a referral to an allergist to discuss other options.
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