Jack Jumper Ant Venom Immunotherapy Long-term Effectiveness Investigation

Phase 4

Not yet recruiting

• Conditions: Allergy; Immunotherapy; Venom Allergy

• Registration Number: NCT06935890
• Lead Sponsor: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute

Brief Summary

Jack Jumper ant (JJA) venom allergy is a uniquely Australian medical condition. It is the leading cause of venom allergy and affects up to three per cent of the population. 70 percent of people with JJA allergy will have another reaction on a repeat sting and this sensitivity appears to persist for many years.

Venom immunotherapy (VIT) has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment in the prevention of severe systemic allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) to future stings. It is currently offered to patients as standard care in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria. However, whilst JJA VIT has been used for many years, there is a lack of evidence on the long-term benefit of the treatment and how it impacts patient quality of life.

This trial will offer patients who have completed a JJA VIT program (between 3 and \< 6-years duration) and have been off-treatment for at least 18-months and \< 5 years, to have a supervised JJA sting challenge and blood test to assess their JJA venom tolerance level. It will also ask them to complete a set of questionnaires at different timepoints to obtain a history of their exposure and reactions to JJA stings outside of the hospital setting (field stings), and to measure the impact of the completed VIT and knowledge of their sting challenge outcome on their quality of life and their behaviours around auto-injectors.

These measures will be used to explore the long-term effectiveness of JJA VIT and the impact of a sting challenge post VIT on a patient's quality of life.

Detailed Description

This will be a prospective, multicentre, phase 4 clinical trial examining the long-term effectiveness (measured by response to an in-hospital JJA sting challenge, primary outcome) and impact on quality of life of JJA VIT involving 3 Australian tertiary hospital sites offering this treatment - Royal Hobart Hospital, Royal Adelaide Hospital and Monash Medical Centre.

Patients who have completed their JJA VIT (between 3 and \<6 years duration) at one of the 3 sites and off-treatment for at least 18 months and \< 5 years, will be invited to participate in the trial by their original treating site. A research team member will obtain informed e-consent and a booking for an in-clinic JJA sting challenge will be allocated. For all consented participants, quality of life (QoL), anxiety and depression scores, history of field sting reactions since treatment completion and attitudes toward adrenaline autoinjector carriage/usage will be collected via questionnaire at trial enrolment, sting challenge, 1-month post sting challenge and annually for 3-years. A blood sample will be collected immediately prior to the sting challenge at the in-clinic appointment. Participants will also be asked to consent to access retrospective data related to their completed JJA VIT course from their hospital clinical records.

Optional consents will also be sought from each participant for the collection of an extra tube of blood with the serum biobanked for future analysis, and the inclusion of their data in the National Allergy BioRepository (ALBI).

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-04
• Study First Submitted: 2025-04-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-04-13
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-13
• Study First Posted: 2025-04-20
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-20
• Study Start: 2025-09
• Primary Completion: 2029-10
• Study Completion: 2029-10

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 100

Inclusion Criteria

1. Completed a continuous program of JJA VIT of between 3 and < 6 years duration.
2. Have ceased JJA VIT for ≥ 18 months but < 5 years.
3. Have the ability to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Any person < 18 years.
2. Any adult (≥ 18 years) who has not completed a continuous JJA VIT program of duration between 3 and < 6 years.
3. Any adult (≥ 18 years) who has completed a continuous JJA VIT program of duration between 3 and < 6 years but ceased JJA VIT < 18 months or > 5 years ago.
4. Any person who has a medical condition, that in the opinion of the investigator, may place them at increased risk if they were to have a sting challenge.
5. Unable to understand study requirements and provide informed consent.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Presence of systemic reaction as assessed by the clinician	Periprocedural	This will be recorded by the clinician as YES or NO.
Severity of a clinically assessed systemic reaction measured by The Brown Grading Criteria	Periprocedural	The Brown Grading Criteria measures the severity of anaphylactic reactions by categorizing symptoms based on body systems affected and physiological impact. The tool uses a 3-point grading system: Grade 1: Mild, Grade 2: Moderate, Grade 3: Severe. Higher scores indicate more severe anaphylactic reactions.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in presence of a systemic reaction to a field sting following cessation of Jack Jumper Ant Venom Immunotherapy as reported by the patient on a trial-specific questionnaire	At enrolment, 1-month post procedure and annually for 3-years	Trial specific questionnaire to be completed by the patient which captures information about any Jack Jumper Ant stings that the patient may have had since completion of Venom Immunotherapy Treatment and whether or not they experienced any type of reaction. If no sting was experienced only one question is required to be answered. If sting/s was experienced ten questions are asked including timing, symptoms, location, treatment and environment.
Change in severity of a systemic reaction to a field sting following cessation of Jack Jumper Ant Venom Immunotherapy as measured by The Brown Grading Criteria	At enrolment, 1-month post procedure and annually for 3-years	The Brown Grading Criteria measures the severity of anaphylactic reactions by categorizing symptoms based on body systems affected and physiological impact. The tool uses a 3-point grading system: Grade 1: Mild, Grade 2: Moderate, Grade 3: Severe. Higher scores indicate more severe anaphylactic reactions.
Change in attitude towards adrenaline auto-injectors as measured by the Adrenaline Auto-injector Questionnaire	At enrolment, 1-month post procedure and annually for 3-years	The Adrenaline Auto-injector Questionnaire measures patient attitudes and behaviors related to adrenaline auto-injectors as a 4 question survey. Current possession of an adrenaline auto-injector (yes/no), decision-making process regarding auto-injector maintenance (doctor advice, personal decision, or other influence), carrying/storage behaviors (ranging from constant carriage to unknown location), overall attitude assessment using a 7-point scale regarding the advantages and disadvantages of carrying an auto-injector where the minimum score is 1 and the maximum score is 7. A lower score indicates a better outcome.
Change in quality of life as measured by the Vespid Quality of Life Questionnaire	At enrolment, 1-month post procedure and annually for 3-years	An adapted insect allergy specific health-related quality of life questionnaire.; 14 questions with 7 response options giving a score of 1-7, with lower scores representing a higher quality of life.
Change in quality of life measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale	At enrolment, 1-month post procedure and annually for 3-years	Developed to assess depression and anxiety. Each response ranges from 0 to 3, the 14 responses are added to yield a total score between 0 and 42. Higher scores indicate higher severity of anxiety and depression.

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

Royal Adelaide Hospital; 🇦🇺 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Royal Hobart Hospital; 🇦🇺 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Monash Medical Centre; 🇦🇺 Clayton, Victoria, Australia