Effect of fexofenadine hydrochloride on cedar pollinosis.

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of fexofenadine hydrochloride (Allegra(R) tablets), an antihistaminic launched in 2001, in patients with cedar pollinosis by dividing them into two groups for comparison, i.e. the early-treatment group in which treatment was started before the initial day of the pollen scattering, and the therapeutic-treatment group in which treatment was started after the initial day of the pollen scattering.
Methods: Early-treatment group: patients who visited the hospital before the initial day of cedar pollen scattering were orally given one tablet of the drug twice daily. Therapeutic-treatment group: patients who visited the hospital after the initial day of cedar pollen scattering were orally given one tablet of the drug twice daily. The total number of cases in which the efficacy evaluation was possible was 37 cases (19 cases of the early-treatment group and 18 cases of the therapeutic-treatment group) after application of exclusion criteria.
Results: The useful rate of moderately effective or better against sneeze was 90% in the early-treatment group, and 78% in the therapeutic-treatment group, and there was a significant difference between both groups. The degree of satisfaction in the early-treatment group was 3.8 points, and 4.2 points in the therapeutic-treatment group, and the therapeutic-treatment group showed a higher score, but there was no significant difference between both groups. As adverse reaction, there was only one case of mild dizziness (2.7%), and no other adverse reactions such as sleepiness were observed.
Conclusions: It was suggested that fexofenadine hydrochloride administered in patients with cedar pollinosis from before substantial pollen scattering might control their symptoms to mild ones, and might control worsening of their symptoms after the substantial pollen scattering, and, therefore, the drug was considered to be useful in early therapy.