Though standard immunotherapy involves injections over a period of months, weeks and years, there also are other forms of the treatment, including:

• Accelerated immunotherapy. Sometimes called “rush” immunotherapy, this consists of a series of allergy shots given every few hours during the course of a single day. The healthcare professional in charge of the therapy watches closely to see whether a reaction occurs to the first shot. If not, the therapy continues.
  
  The advantage of accelerated immunotherapy is that the patient graduates to the maintenance stage of treatment over the course of about five to eight days, as opposed to the several months necessary for those undergoing standard immunotherapy. The “rush” approach is most likely to be used for those with:
  
  
• • Life-threatening allergic reactions to insect stings
    
    
  • Homes a long distance from any health care facility
    
    
  • Severe allergic asthma
    
    
  • Plans to travel for extended periods of time
    
    
• Oral immunotherapy. In this treatment, drops placed under the tongue replace injections in the arm. The patient swallows the drops, which can be administered at home. Although this treatment is used in Europe, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to approve any oral extract for use in immunotherapy treatments in the United States.
  
  
• Enzyme potentiated desensitization (EPD). Also called “low-dose” immunotherapy, this involves a combination of a very low dose of an allergen and an enzyme called b-glucuronidase. Despite several clinical studies, EPD has not been proven to be an effective therapy. For this reason, mainstream allergists do not recommend its use. Proponents say the advantage of EPD is that it treats symptoms related to a broad range of allergens, including those related to food allergies. In addition, EPD does not require weekly shots. Patients who receive a recommendation of EPD from their physician should seek a second opinion from a board-certified physician.