Source: Beijing News
"The cat can't be sent away, that's my child. In mid-April, a young woman told the doctor in a firm tone, "I want to get a desensitization injection." ”
Cats, dogs, rabbits, chinchillas, birds, sugar gliders...... In contemporary society, more and more "hairy children" have become part of the human family. Like allergies to plant pollen, people can also be allergic to pets, and in order not to leave their pets, some pet owners go to the hospital for help.
"The 'shovel officer' is indeed the group with the highest willingness to desensitize, and the communication is very smooth. Ma Tingting, deputy director of the allergy department of Beijing Shijitan Hospital, told reporters that due to strong demand, the hospital opened a pet allergy clinic this year. However, it is undeniable that problems such as the allergenic environment that is difficult to get rid of and the poor circulation of desensitization drugs have increased the difficulty of treatment.
A pet dog sits in the owner's arms. Photo by Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng
Pets that are hard to let go, allergies that are unbearable
Early Thursday morning, 27-year-old Xiao Chen sat in the consultation room of the allergy department of Beijing Shijitan Hospital, and was a little reluctant to give up in the face of the advice of the doctor Chen Lijia that "desensitization is not too necessary now".
Xiao Chen said that he is usually busy with work, and in order to leave time for the pet allergy clinic, he did not stop working when the hives were at their worst. "My neighbor had a cat for four years, and suddenly one day he had asthma and had to give the cat away. I want to get involved now, and I don't want to be like this one day. I care about them so much. ”
Xiao Chen is a senior "shovel officer", with both cats and dogs at home, and deep feelings for people and pets, and they have to sleep together every night. A while ago, Xiao Chen had a urticaria, and a local examination in Shijiazhuang detected a fourth-degree allergy to cat and dog hair. Although the doctor said that there are many causes of hives, not necessarily because of allergies, but thinking of the neighbor being separated from the pet due to allergies, Xiao Chen is still psychologically prepared for desensitization.
"The level of allergy is not necessarily related to the symptoms, some people have asthma with only level 1, and some people have allergies to level 4 but have no symptoms. You've had only one hives, and your blood picture shows high white blood cells, which makes you more likely to have an infection, and you have no previous allergies. It is recommended that you observe again, that you already have this awareness, and that it will not progress to that serious level and then intervene. Chen Lijia continued to persuade him.
Before leaving, Xiao Chen showed the doctor and reporters photos of his pets, and the kittens and puppies snuggled together quite affectionately.
On this morning, almost all of the people who came to see Chen Lijia were patients with pet allergies. Most of these patients have obvious allergic symptoms, nasal congestion, nasal itching, itchy throat, headache, cough, wheezing...... Some develop lower respiratory tract symptoms, which continue to worsen and progress to asthma.
Among these patients, some have been raising pets for many years like Xiao Chen, and some have just started to raise them, and their demands are the same - they don't want to be separated, and would rather have injections. After a young woman sat down, she said bluntly to Chen Lijia: "The cat can't be sent away, it's my child." ”
Citizens put their pet cats on the side of the wheat field to take pictures. Photo by Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng
Specialized clinic for pet allergies
Every spring and autumn, a large number of people with pollen allergies flock to the hospital. In fact, in recent years, there are not a few people with pet allergies.
According to the "2023-2024 China Pet Industry White Paper (Consumption Report)", in 2023, the size of the urban pet (dog and cat) consumer market will be 279.3 billion yuan, an increase of 3.2% over 2022. The number of pets in mainland China has increased to nearly 200 million. Among them, the number of pet dogs was 51.75 million, an increase of 1.1% over 2022, and the number of pet cats was 69.8 million, an increase of 6.8% over 2022.
More and more families have "furry children", and the number of "shovelers" with pet allergies has also increased. According to a 12-year retrospective analysis of patients with allergic rhinitis, the sensitization rate of cat hair increased from 1.3% to 15.5%, and the sensitization rate of dog hair increased from 0.8% to 10.5%.
On online social platforms, many netizens also talked about their pet allergies. "I wasn't allergic 4 years ago, 2 years ago I had a cat hair allergy level 1, and this year I have an allergy level 2" "Allergies are so painful, I can't lose cats in my life" "The test results are out, cat dander level 5 allergy causes asthma, and the hanging heart is finally dead". There are also netizens who have not raised pets who are undergoing desensitization treatment and plan to start raising pets after desensitization.
Chen Lijia's pet allergy clinic is a separate new special outpatient clinic in Beijing Shijitan Hospital due to the increase in the number of pet owners.
"We see a lot of people with pet allergies when we go to the clinic every day, and 1/6 to 1/5 of the patients come because of this problem every day. The pet allergy clinic is open every Thursday, and five or six doctors take turns to visit the clinic, with 20 numbers a day, but there are also pet allergy people in the general outpatient clinic. Ma Tingting introduced.
She found that most of these patients are young people aged 20-39, and pets are very important to them, and they are generally not allowed to be sent away, and even come to Beijing from other provinces for medical treatment.
Humans are not simply allergic to animal hair, but the protein components in the dander, saliva and excrement shed by pets. Pet allergies can affect the respiratory tract, and allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma are the most common symptoms of pet allergies.
Ma Tingting's clinical experience is that the more pets are raised, the longer the contact time, the greater the possibility of allergies. Some patients have reported allergies following respiratory infections in recent years. In addition, in addition to cats and dogs, relatively niche pets such as rabbits, chinchillas, birds, and sugar gliders can also make owners allergic.
On June 9, 2023, the first Langyuan Station, a number of pet drinking points were set up in the park. Photo by Beijing News reporter Wang Zicheng
Hopes and difficulties
In order not to leave the pets, the "shovel officers" tried various methods.
If the symptoms are mild, lifestyle changes and medications will be tried first. After two years of raising a cat, Xiao Li's boyfriend began to be allergic to cat hair, and had symptoms of rhinitis and cough, which can still be controlled by drugs, and they have increased the frequency of bathing cats;
In groups with more severe symptoms, desensitization therapy will be considered. Ma Tingting told reporters that pet owners in the outpatient clinic are the most willing group for desensitization treatment, and the communication is smooth and the compliance is very good. Many patients from other places come to Beijing for desensitization treatment after they know that their pets are allergic in the local area. The number of patients who undergo pet desensitization at the hospital is about 400 per month.
Desensitization therapy is the only cause-based treatment that can block the natural course of allergic disease. The principle is to expose the patient to a gradually increasing dose of the allergen repeatedly, so that the immune system can gradually tolerate it, and eventually reduce or eliminate allergic symptoms. Chen Lijia said that with standardized desensitization treatment, 70%-90% of cases can alleviate symptoms, reduce medication, and especially effective can not use drugs at all.
This therapy also has its own barriers and difficulties.
The first is that the treatment cycle is long and the patient's activities are restricted. Patients need to be injected twice a week, and the entire treatment lasts for 3-5 years, usually starting gradually over 3-6 months. A netizen in Beijing admitted frankly that he tried desensitization treatment ten years ago, and gave up within two months, and now he has completely "taken medicine and messed up", with more and more allergens.
In addition, Ma Tingting mentioned that people with cat hair allergies not only have runny nose and sneezing, but also may affect the lower respiratory tract and develop allergic asthma, which requires regular follow-up.
The second is that most pet owners are reluctant to be separated from their pets and cannot get rid of the allergenic environment. During the outpatient visit, the reporter found that when the patient is allergic to a certain type of plant pollen, the doctor will recommend not desensitizing at the moment, and wait until the non-pollen season to desensitize, which is safer and more stable. For pet owners, they can only stabilize the condition by taking medicine and other methods, and then desensitize, otherwise the symptoms may be aggravated.
For niche pets that are not cats and dogs, there is no desensitization agent at present, and owners can only take medicine for symptomatic treatment.
There is also the reality of access to medicines. Ma Tingting introduced that at present, the drugs for the desensitization treatment of cat and dog hair in China are all in-hospital preparations of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and only a few hospitals have them, which is also the reason why patients from Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places also want to go to Beijing for treatment. The reporter learned that if other hospitals want to use Xiehe's in-hospital preparations, they need both sides to make a series of local declarations, and they also need to be approved by the State Food and Drug Administration, which is a long process.
Things may be better in the future. It is reported that the desensitization in-hospital preparations of Peking Union Medical College Hospital are being transformed into new drugs, and once the product is on the market, it will be more convenient to circulate. Ma Tingting introduced that the department is also conducting research on cat and dog hair allergenic proteins, there are a variety of animal allergenic proteins, with the deepening of research, the future may be specifically for a certain allergenic protein injection, more accurate treatment.
Beijing News reporter Dai Xuan
Edited by Bai Shuang and proofread by Wang Xin