August 3, 2015

Consensus communication on early peanut introduction and the prevention of peanut allergy in high-risk infants

Position article and guidelines

Open Access

David M. Fleischer1Scott Sicherer2Matthew Greenhawt3Dianne Campbell4Edmond S. Chan5*Antonella Muraro6,Susanne Halken6Yitzhak Katz7Motohiro Ebisawa8Lawrence Eichenfield9Hugh Sampson10For the Leap Study Team and Secondary Contributors

Abstract (provisional)
The purpose of this brief communication is to highlight emerging evidence to existing guidelines regarding potential benefits of supporting early, rather than delayed, peanut introduction during the period of complementary food introduction in infants.

Early childhood wheezers: identifying asthma in later life


Abstract

Wheeze in young children is common, and asthma is the most common noncommunicable disease in children. Prevalence studies of recurrent asthma-like symptoms in children under the age of 5 years have reported that one third of children in the US and Europe are affected, and rates and severity appear to be higher in developing countries.

The airway microbiome in patients with severe asthma: Associations with disease features and severity

 2015 Jul 25. pii: S0091-6749(15)00838-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.05.044. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Asthma is heterogeneous, and airway dysbiosis is associated with clinical features in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma. Whether similar relationships exist among patients with severe asthma is unknown.

OBJECTIVE:

We sought to evaluate relationships between the bronchial microbiome and features of severe asthma.

Vaccination recommendations for adult patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Silja Bühlera, Gilles Eperonb, Camillo Ribic, Diego Kyburzd, Fons van Gompele, Leo G. Visserf, Claire-Anne Siegristg, Christoph Hatza,h

a Department of Public Health, Division of Infectious Disease / Travel Clinic, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
b Service de Médecine Tropicale et Humanitaire, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
c Division of Immunology and Allergy, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland
d Department of Rheumatology, Basel University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
e Department of Tropical Medicine, Institute for Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
f Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
g Centre for Vaccinology, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland
h Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Department of Medicine and Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland

Summary

BACKGROUND: The number of individuals with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRDs) treated with immunosuppressive drugs is increasing steadily. The variety of immunosuppressive drugs and, in particular, biological therapies is also rising. The immunosuppressants, as well as the AIIRD itself, increase the risk of infection in this population. Thus, preventing infections by means of vaccination is of utmost importance. New Swiss vaccination recommendations for AIIRD patients were initiated by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and prepared by a working group of the Federal Commission for Vaccination Issues as well as by consultation of international experts.

July 31, 2015

EAACI IG Biologicals task force paper on the use of biologic agents in allergic disorders

Abstract: Biologic agents (also termed biologicals or biologics) are therapeutics that are synthesized by living organisms and directed against a specific determinant, for example, a cytokine or receptor. In inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, biologicals have revolutionized the treatment of several immune-mediated disorders. 

July 28, 2015

The relation of autologous serum and plasma skin test results with urticarial activity score, sex and age in patients with chronic urticaria

 2015 Jun;32(3):173-8. doi: 10.5114/pdia.2015.48057. Epub 2015 Jun 15.

  • 1Department of Dermatology, Diyarbakır Research and Training Hospital, Diyarbakir, Turkey. Head of the Department: Sirac Aktar.
  • 2Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Medeniyet University, Goztepe Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Head of the Department: Necmettin Akdeniz.
  • 3Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey. Head of the Department: Omer Calka.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Some previous studies reported autoimmunity as an etiologic factor in chronic urticaria (CU), but the results of some autoimmunity tests in these studies are conflicting.

AIM:

To concretize whether there was any relation of autologous serum skin test (ASST) and autologous plasma skin test (APST) results with sex, age and urticarial activity score (UAS) in patients with CU.

Population-based study of the association between asthma and pneumococcal disease in children

Authors Shea KM, Lash TL, Antonsen S, Jick SS, Sørensen HT
Published Date July 2015 Volume 2015:7 Pages 325—334

Kimberly M Shea,1,2 Timothy L Lash,3,4 Sussie Antonsen,4 Susan S Jick,1,5 Henrik T Sørensen1,4
1Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 2Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 3Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; 4Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 5Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
Background: Although asthma has recently been established as a risk factor for pneumococcal disease (PD), few studies have specifically evaluated this association in children.