(Kaitlyn Wylde/ Bustle) — Chances are, you know someone who absolutely loves cats, but wouldn’t dare pet them because of allergies. If you’re not a cat person on account of your allergies, or you’re an itchy-eyed, hive-ridden cat mom who just can’t quit, you’ll want to know about the vaccine combatting human allergies to cats, pronto.
This game-changing effort is being led by a team of Swiss scientists and has been dubbed HypoCat, due to its hypoallergenic capabilities. Though preclinical data on the vaccine was published back in April 2019, the cat vaccine isn’t available just yet.
The issue that many of us have with cats is not so much their hair (despite popular belief), it’s a protein compound called Fel d 1, and it’s found in cat’s saliva, sebaceous glands, and skin. If you have a sensitivity to Fel d 1, you’ll experience swelling and itching of the skin, and eyes, and if you’re around the protein compound long enough for spores to collect in your lungs, you might experience respiratory complications.
For people who already suffer with asthma, cat allergens can also trigger asthma attacks, proving that cat allergies can vastly range in severity — for some people, an antihistamine does the trick, but for others, a trip to a hospital might be necessary after exposure to a cat. (…)