Allergy/Asthma

The FDA has approved over-the-counter Primatene Mist to temporarily relieve symptoms of mild, intermittent asthma in patients aged 12 years and older, according to a press release.

Computer-generated phone calls based on a patient’s electronic health record and answers to questions led to a small but statistically significant increase in patients with asthma taking their medications, according to findings recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Many parents of children who require allergy treatment with epinephrine autoinjectors do not regularly use the product during an anaphylactic event, according to research presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. A significant number of these parents were too scared or emotional to administer the potentially life-saving drug when needed, researchers said.

The FDA is requesting information regarding the prevalence of sesame allergies in the United States to determine whether the product should be mandatorily declared as an allergen on food labels. Currently, only the eight major food allergens — milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans — are required to be declared on food products by federal law.

At least 14 million asthma-related ED visits around the world are caused by air pollution, according to research published in Environmental Health Perspectives. A significant amount of the pollution is generated by humans, researchers wrote.

Experts have suggested a bigger role for pharmacists in penicillin skin testing, writing in Clinical Infectious Diseases that it would expand access to the service and be good for antimicrobial stewardship efforts.

The FDA has approved 75 mg/0.5 mL and 150 mg/1 mL single-dose prefilled syringes of Xolair as additional formulations for patients with allergic asthma and chronic idiopathic urticaria, according to press releases from Genentech and Novartis.

Removing dogs, cats and secondhand smoke from the homes of patients with asthma may not be necessary if certain asthma guidelines are followed, according to a study being presented later this month at CHEST 2018.

The ongoing shortage of EpiPen supply — now entering its fifth month — has intersected with the high demand for auto-injectors when children return to school.

In a collaborative effort between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH and the Children’s National Health System in Washington D.C., the institutions established a partnership to promote research on pediatric allergic, infectious, autoinflammatory and immunologic disease. The partnership, established in 2017, met today at a symposium highlighting their current and upcoming research.