New Help for Horses with Summer Eczema

Researchers at University of Zurich and University of Bern has devised a new treatment for horses with chronic allergy-related problems based on research with Icelandic horses.  Icelandics tend to be very sensitive to insect bites, especially culicoides, since they are not found in Iceland.

"They developed a new vaccine therapy based on virus-like nanoparticles, which serves as a carrier of a so-called T-cell epitope, an enhancer of the body’s immune response....Thirty-four affected Icelandic horses participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical study conducted by a research team headed by Antonia Fettelschoss-Gabriel from the University Hospital Zurich and the University of Zurich. Nineteen horses were vaccinated, 15 were given a placebo.
The vaccine consisted of two interconnected components. The first component activates the immune system based on the mentioned virus-like nanoparticle. The second component is IL-5, a specific molecule that regulates the development and activation of so-called eosinophils, which play a significant role in allergies."




The treated group has substantially less skin lesions.  Note that the treatment is expected to work with both dogs and horses and possibly, based on future research, humans suffering from asthma.  The article has some excellent diagrams.  If I am interpreting them correctly, it looks like the new vaccine essentially turns off the body sending an "itch" feeling to the brain.


https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/04/22/vaccine-horses-chronic-allergy/