A VACCINE now being tested may allow people who are allergic to cats to
breathe more easily in their presence. In a trial involving 95 sufferers, the
vaccine reduced wheezing and nasal congestion.
The vaccine, developed by Philip Norman and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, contains a segment of a protein called Fel d 1, found
in cat skin.
The segment binds to receptors on the immune system’s T cells, but does not
trigger an antibody response from its B cells. The net effect of this partial
activation of the immune system is to short-circuit the allergic reaction.
