Allergy/Asthma

NEW ORLEANS — Switching inhaler types due to insurance formulary changes may lead to reduced lung function in children with asthma, according to data presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting.

The effect of electronic cigarettes without nicotine on allergic airway disease may depend on flavor, which suggests that some flavored e-cigarettes may alter the pathophysiology of asthma, a recent study on mice suggests.

The FDA’s Allergenic Products Advisory Committee recently voted in support of AR101, an investigational biologic oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy in children and teenagers, bringing it one step closer to approval.

WASHINGTON — Infectious Disease News and Healio.com are onsite at IDWeek 2019 to provide live coverage of the conference, held from Oct. 2 to 6.

In a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, nearly half of black children with uncontrolled asthma fared better with an increased dose of glucocorticoids, as compared with the addition of a long-acting beta agonist to low-dose glucocorticoids.

Infectious diseases had been a big part of my training in medical school in India, where I cared for and learned from patients with a wide variety of infections from extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis to cerebral malaria to Japanese encephalitis to all types of vaccine-preventable diseases because of lack of health care access. I became fascinated by the specialty, and my interest was further bolstered by role models in residency. A fellowship in a strong inner-city clinical program under awesome mentors with a plethora of pathology was invaluable for the years to come. My first job out of training was in a rural community hospital and Federally Qualified Health Center as the first ID physician in the center. It’s been a rewarding experience to start and run a very busy rural ID practice, taking care of uninsured and underinsured patients in an area with a shortage of health professionals. Sharing strong bonds with patients living with HIV over last 7 years in a small rural community has been a learning experience about their challenges and successes. Absorbing the business side of medicine as a medical director has been equally eye opening. My role as a hospital epidemiologist and stewardship lead has allowed me to build cherished relationships with several medical specialties and hospital staff. I have to admit that I have also learned from patients and communities who may not always agree with me (with respect to management of Lyme disease and vaccine refusal). Keeping the dialogue open is the key.

Researchers demonstrated that long-term use of sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, was an effective and safe option to treat peanut allergy in children aged 1 to 11 years, according to findings published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Social media provides a quick and easy way to communicate and disseminate information.

As a young medical student, I learned how tiny organisms could wreak great havoc in this world — which exposed me to the world of ID early in my medical career. I attended medical school with the goal of understanding and conquering them. During my ID rotation, I cared for a patient who had fever, vague symptoms and a rash that was biopsied. They called us, the ID service, hoping that we could offer answers. This role of a detective, collaborator, thinker and doctor is what still appeals to me the most about the practice of ID. I was in awe of the ID specialists who ascertained the etiology as secondary syphilis and treated this patient with penicillin — and I hoped someday to emulate them. Intriguing cases like this sparked my interest in this field, which only grew stronger in the years to come.

According to research published in Trends in Microbiology, patients with atopic dermatitis, or AD, are commonly colonized with Staphylococcus aureus during flares. Bleach baths are one way clinicians are trying to reduce S. aureus colonization in AD patients and subsequently reduce disease severity.