Would epitope vaccine to cure dog allergies work the same on cat allergies?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Earlier this week, we told you about a discovery that could lead scientists to a vaccine that would cure people of their dog allergies.

It all comes down to a very specific part of an allergen called an epitope.

It’s basically what causes your immune system to react to an allergen.

Every allergen type has a different epitope, so scientists are closing in on the specific epitope that makes most people allergic to dogs.

Becky writes: “I have a question about the epitope vaccine you mentioned for dog allergies. What about cat allergies?”

Good question.

Chances are, a different vaccine would need to be developed for cat allergies.

That’s because common cat allergens would have a different epitope than common dog allergens.

However, the thinking is that once scientists figure out how to create a vaccine with that dog allergen epitope, they can create vaccines for other allergies using the same system.

So, that dog allergy vaccine wouldn’t work for cat allergies, but a cat allergy vaccine could be created using the same thinking.

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