Allergy/Asthma News

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.

DALLAS — In patients with severe asthma treated with benralizumab, reduced exacerbation rates and improved pulmonary function, asthma control and health-related quality of life were maintained without any unexpected safety findings at 2 years, according to an analysis presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

DALLAS — In a phase 2b trial, an investigational TORC1 inhibitor was well tolerated and observed to reduce the incidence of respiratory tract infections in adults aged at least 65 years, including those with asthma, when administered once daily for 16 weeks during winter cold and influenza season, according to data presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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.

DALLAS — Single combination inhaler treatment with budesonide-formoterol on an as-needed basis, compared with albuterol, more than halved the risk for severe asthma attacks in patients with mild asthma, according to the results of the Novel START trial presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

CLEVELAND — Patients with rosacea, livedoid vasculopathy and allergic contact dermatitis present with a multitude of dermatologic symptoms that rheumatologists can easily misdiagnose as rheumatic diseases, according to Anthony Fernandez, MD, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic.

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).

People whose cough triggers include subfreezing air, along with other factors, may point to the presence of asthma in those with chronic cough, according to a Finnish study published in Respiratory Medicine.