Allergy/Asthma

I was the intern on call for the pediatric oncology service at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital when my mother called with news that my father had experienced a stroke. My colleagues covered the service while my wife and I drove quickly to my hometown a few hours away. My dad had, indeed, experienced a large middle cerebral artery stroke, but curiously he was also highly febrile (40.5C). In the hours and days to follow, we would learn that he had a large mitral valve vegetation, that he had group B Streptococcus bacteremia and that he would not survive the event.

Although there have been improvements over the years, racial, socioeconomic and ethnic disparities in food allergy are still prevalent in the United States, according to a presentation at the American College of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology Scientific Meeting.

HOUSTON — Kids prefer a patch to oral treatment for peanut allergy, according to study results presented at American College of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology Scientific Meeting.

HOUSTON — ProAir Digihaler, a multidose dry powder inhaler with built-in sensors that record information about its use and measure inspiratory flow, could dramatically change the course of asthma treatment, according to a presenter at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

HOUSTON — Among inner-city children, poor visual recognition of asthma controller medications by patients and their caregivers is linked to worse compliance and disease outcomes, according to new data.

I fell in love with immunology as a first-year medical student at Harvard in a class taught by the Nobel Prize-winning immunologist Baruj Benacerraf. It was the mid-1980s, and the HIV epidemic was emerging in all its perplexing horror, the virus devastating the immune system through unknown means. I had friends who were stigmatized and dying from HIV, which made it personal. When I was a third-year medical student in 1987, Chip Schooley was my ID attending. He was involved in clinical trials to treat HIV as well as laboratory research to understand HIV immunology. His brilliance and passion for patient care and research were inspiring, and that is when I became hooked on ID! I decided then that I would dedicate my career to fighting the HIV epidemic through clinical care and research to unravel how HIV evades and depletes the immune system. I was fortunate that Chip recruited me to perform my ID fellowship at the University of Colorado and then to join the faculty. Although there were many challenges, the path has been fulfilling. I would encourage anyone who wishes to pursue an academic career in ID to focus on what they think is important and find good mentors!

HOUSTON — Although most patients with allergy are receptive to the idea of telemedicine, some allergy practitioners are not, according to several presentations at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

Today, 1 in 50 Americans is at risk for anaphylaxis — a severe allergic reaction that can lead to death. Several states have acted and allow epinephrine to be available in more places and to be administered by more individuals than in the past.

HOUSTON — Not all children and teenagers will embrace maintenance food allergy treatments, such as the Viaskin Peanut epicutaneous patch or the biologic oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy known as AR101 — both of which are investigational therapies — according to a speaker at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

HOUSTON — Children with a family history of cancer may be more likely to develop asthma, according to research presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.