In a study, children aged 6 to 12 suffering from perennial allergic rhinitis, not only got fast relief of symptoms when they took the once daily antihistamine, Xyzal ( Levocetirizine ), they also benefited from improved quality of life.

Results from the first study to investigate the impact of a new generation antihistamine on quality of life of paediatric patients, showed that children who took Xyzal were three times more likely to reduce by half, the severity of their symptoms in the first two weeks of treatment, compared to children taking placebo.

The study also showed that they had a statistically significant improvement in quality of life ( p=0.01 ), which was evaluated by five individual quality of life measures over this period: nose symptoms, eye symptoms, practical problems, other symptoms and activity limitations.

Lead investigator of the trial, Paul Potter, from the University of Cape Town Lung Institute, Western Cape, South Africa, stressed the importance of the quality of life findings in children.

" Quality of life represents another dimension of well-being in a young population, whose school years are a critical phase of development" he said. " The positive impact of Xyzal on quality of life complements the improvement of the symptoms that were seen, and together, the two measures are indicative of the overall impact of the treatment."

Three hundred and six children with perennial allergic rhinitis, aged 6 to 12 years, took part in the study.
Of the total, 154 children were randomised to Levocetirizine 5 mg once daily and 152 children to placebo, for four weeks. Diary cards were used daily to record symptoms and quality of life.
The investigators’ global evaluations were carried out at three visits.

During the first two weeks of the study, 12.3% of the Levocetirizine-treated children had a 50% reduction in symptoms, compared with 3.9% of those in the placebo group ( p=0.01 ).
The investigators’ global evaluation also favoured Levocetirizine, with 57.1% of children in the Levocetirizine group considered to be markedly or moderately improved, compared with 44.7% in the placebo group.
Levocetirizine was also shown to be well tolerated.

Potter commented that the increasing prevalence of allergic rhinitis, especially in young people whose quality of life may be more affected by the condition, emphasises the need for safe and effective treatments. " Taking into account the level of symptom relief, improvement in quality of life and tolerability demonstrated in this study, Levocetirizine represents an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis in children aged 6 to 12 years" he concluded.

Source: UCB, 2005


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