January 15, 2015

Clinical Documentation in the 21st Century: Executive Summary of a Policy Position Paper From the American College of Physicians

Position Papers |

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Thomson Kuhn, MA; Peter Basch, MD; Michael Barr, MD, MBA; Thomas Yackel, MD, MPH, MS, for the Medical Informatics Committee of the American College of Physicians*

Amoxicillin rash in patients with infectious mononucleosis: evidence of true drug sensitization

Short report

Open Access

Katinka Ónodi-NagyÁgnes KinyóAngéla MeszesEdina GaracziLajos Kemény and Zsuzsanna Bata-Csörg¿

Abstract (provisional)

Background

It hasn't been clearly understood yet whether sensitization to antibiotics, the virus itself or transient loss of drug tolerance due to the virus, is responsible for the development of maculopapular exanthems following amoxicillin intake in patients with infectious mononucleosis. We aimed to examine whether sensitization to penicillin developed among patients with skin rash following amoxicillin treatment within infectious mononucleosis.

Allergy to sunflower seed and sunflower butter as proposed vehicle for sensitization

Case report


Open AccessElana Lavine1* and Moshe Ben-Shoshan2

Abstract (provisional)

Background
It is hypothesized that household exposure to allergenic proteins via an impaired skin barrier, such as atopic dermatitis, may contribute to the development of IgE sensitization. Household presence of peanut is a risk factor for the development of peanut allergy in children. Sunflower seed butter is a peanut-free alternative to peanut butter, and sunflower seed allergy is an uncommon but reported entity.

January 14, 2015

The bacterial lysate Lantigen B reduces the number of acute episodes in patients with recurrent infections of the respiratory tract: The results of a double blind, placebo controlled, multicenter clinical trial

Volume 162, Issue 2, Part B, December 2014, Pages 185–193
Dutch Society for Immunology 1964 – 2014 — Special issue on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Dutch Society for Immunology (NVVI)
  Open Access

Highlights

Old trials on LantigenB (LB) showed its effect on recurrent respiratory infections.
These studies were performed using non-updated clinical and statistical methods.
Here we show that LB reduces the number of infections in a phase IV clinical study.
LB represents a real first-line prophylaxis of recurrent respiratory infections.

January 13, 2015

The Impact of Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenge (DBPCFC) on the Socioeconomic Cost of Food Allergy in Europe

I Cerecedo,1* J Zamora,2* M Fox,3 J Voordouw,4 N Plana,5 E Rokicka,6 M Fernandez-Rivas,7 S Vázquez Cortés,7 M Reche,8 A Fiandor,8 M Kowalski,9 G Antonides,10 M Mugford,11 LJ Frewer,4 B de la Hoz1
1Servicio de Alergología, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain
2Unidad de Bioestadística Clínica, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
3University of East Anglia, Health Economics Group, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, Norwich, UK
4Wageningen University, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands
5CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Unidad de Bioestadística Clínica, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain
6University of Lodz, Institute of Sociology, Lodz, Poland
7Servicio de Alergología, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain
8Servicio de Alergología, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid, Spain
9Lodz University, Department of Immunology, Rheumatology and Allergy, Faculty of Medicine, Lodz, Poland
10Wageningen University, Economics of Consumers and Households group, Wageningen, The Netherlands
11University of East Anglia, Health Economics Group, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, Norwich, UK
*These authors contributed equally to this study
 
 Abstract

Background: Double-blind placebo controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) is the gold standard diagnostic test in food allergy because it minimizes diagnostic bias.
Objective: To investigate the potential effect of diagnosis on the socioeconomic costs of food allergy.
Methods: A prospective longitudinal cost analysis study was conducted in Spain and Poland within the EuroPrevall project. Food-allergic patients were enrolled into the study and in all cases diagnosis was confirmed through a standardized DBPCFC. Data were collected through a self-administered survey on all aspects of health and social care resource use, costs of living, and costs of leisure activities. Costs were measured before and 6 months after the DBPCFC and reported in international dollars with 2007 as the benchmark year.
Results: Forty-two patients were enrolled. Twenty-one patients had a negative DBPCFC and the suspected food was reintroduced into their diet. Comparing total direct costs before and after the DBPCFC, the reactive group spent a significantly higher amount (median increase of $813.1 over baseline), while the tolerant group’s spending decreased by a median of $87.3 (P=.031). The amount of money spent on food 6 months after diagnosis was also significantly higher in the reactive group (P=.040). Finally, a larger, but not statistically significant, decrease in total indirect costs was observed in the tolerant group compared with the reactive group ($538.3 vs $32.3).
Conclusion: DBPCFC has an impact on indirect and direct costs of living. The main contribution to this increase was money spent on food.

Key words: Food allergy. Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Food Challenge. Diagnosis. Socioeconomic impact.
 

January 12, 2015

The relationship between allergy and asthma control, quality of life, and emotional status in patients with asthma: a cross-sectional study

Research

Open Access

Hikmet Coban1 and Yusuf Aydemir12*

Abstract (provisional)

Background 
Psychiatric comorbidities are prevalent in patients with chronic somatic disorders such as asthma. But, there is no clear evidence regarding the effect of atopic status and the type of sensitized allergen on emotional status. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of house dust mites and pollen allergies on emotional status, asthma control and the quality of life in patients with atopic asthma.

Bronchial thermoplasty: a new therapeutic option for the treatment of severe, uncontrolled asthma in adults

  1. Pascal Chanez2
+Author Affiliations
  1. 1Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Bichat APHP, U700 INSERM University Hospitals Dept, Diderot UniversityParis, France 2Dept of Respiratory Medicine, APHM, INSERM U1067 CNRS UMR 7333, Aix Marseille UniversityMarseille, France3Research Centre at the Institute of Cardiology and Respiratory Medicine, Laval UniversityQuebec, QC, Canada4Dept of Radiology, Avicenne Public HospitalBobigny, France 5Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent UniversityGhent, Belgium6Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Liege University Hospital, GIGAI3 Research Group, University of LiègeLiège, Belgium7Dept of Respiratory MedicineHUG Geneva, Switzerland8Both authors contributed equally
  1. Pascal Chanez, Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Marseille Public Hospitals, INSERM U1067 CNRS UMR 7333, Aix Marseille University, Hôpital Nord, 13015 Marseille, France. E-mail: pascal.chanez@univ-amu.fr

  2. Abstract
Bronchial thermoplasty is a young yet promising treatment for severe asthma whose benefit for long-term asthma control outweighs the short-term risk of deterioration and hospitalisation in the days following the treatment. It is an innovative treatment whose clinical efficacy and safety are beginning to be better understood.

Bronchial thermoplasty: a new therapeutic option for the treatment of severe, uncontrolled asthma in adults

Tristetraprolin and its Role in Regulation of Airway Inflammation


Molecular Pharmacology mol.114.095984

  • Alaina Ammit*
  • +Author Affiliations
    1. University of Sydney
    1. * Corresponding author; email: alaina.ammit@sydney.edu.au

    Abstract

    Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are clinically and socio-economically important diseases globally. Currently the mainstay of anti-inflammatory therapy in respiratory diseases is corticosteroids.