Allergy/Asthma

Numerous studies have implicated Staphylococcus aureus in the development of eczema.

All children attending school in the United States are permitted to carry albuterol inhalers if they have been prescribed one by a physician. However, few children — approximately 14% — have access to emergency inhalers, according to research published in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonology.

Decreases in regional air pollutants were associated with reductions in asthma incidence among children in Southern California from 1993 to 2014, researchers reported.

Children in California who were exposed to wildfire smoke had increases in asthma exacerbations, including wheezing in those who did not have asthma before the fire, compared with children exposed to smoke from prescribed burns.

In support of Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month in May, Healio Pulmonology spoke with Todd A. Mahr, MD, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, about current challenges in the management and treatment of asthma in children and adults.

My path toward the field of infectious diseases was a bit winding. My love for immunology began at a young age. I was inspired to become an immunologist by my father, a rheumatologist and immunologist, whose license plate happens to be “T cell.” From the beginning, he made learning about the immune system fun and this still rings true with me today. At age 15, I spent my summer in the Cleveland Clinic microbiology lab with Dr. Belinda Yen-Lieberman. She taught me about virology, and I became fascinated with HIV. I always knew I wanted to be a rheumatologist but discovered that the intersection of infectious disease and rheumatology was the niche for me. With an immense amount of support from Carlos Isada, my ID program director, and Abby Abelson, my rheumatology program director, as well as from my father, I was fortunate to serve as the beta test subject of a 3-year combined fellowship in rheumatology and infectious disease, from which I graduated in 2018. Dr. Isada is the type of physician who is hard to come by these days — being a doctor is not “just a job” for him, but a life passion, and learning from him made it impossible to do anything but love the field of infectious diseases. Today I am lucky to practice medicine at the intersection of my two passions — seeing patients with infectious complications of immunosuppression, rheumatic manifestations of infections and HIV, and focusing on infection prevention and immunization. I am also lucky to get to work with my dad every day (and my sister, who also works in my department). I learn something new and have fun every day.

DALLAS — In the SIENA trial, nearly three-quarters of patients with mild, persistent asthma had low sputum eosinophil levels and did not differ in their response to either mometasone or tiotropium when compared with placebo treatment.

As readers of Infectious Diseases in Children are well aware, it is not uncommon to hear “penicillin” when parents are asked, “Does your child have any drug allergies?” However, many published studies of adults and children have demonstrated that the vast majority of patients who answer with “penicillin” — greater than 95% — are not “allergic” with respect to a demonstrable immunoglobulin E-mediated (eg, anaphylaxis) or T-lymphocyte reaction (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome). Most of these reported allergies are not likely to be clinically significant with repeated penicillin or beta-lactam antibiotic administration, or the reported adverse reactions were initially unrelated to penicillin administration (eg, a viral exanthem).

May 7 marks the 21st annual World Asthma Day — a day during which medical societies, advocacy groups and health care providers renew their commitment to finding effective treatments for a chronic condition that profoundly affects quality of life for millions of people worldwide, according to estimates from the CDC, WHO and NIH.

Children who were hospitalized for asthma exacerbations and were prescribed azithromycin did not have shorter lengths of stay or a decreased risk for adverse events compared with children who received a placebo, according to findings of a randomized clinical trial presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting.