Expert review of clinical immunology
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Although three sublingual immunotherapy tablets have been approved in the USA and more are under study, it is not clear that sublingual immunotherapy tablets will answer the needs of many patients in the USA, and this is due to the limited number of allergens that will be offered. Alternatives that employ off-label, currently available extracts hold the greatest likelihood of entering the US allergy practice. Those approaches that employ recombinant technology to produce hypoallergenic products face a long and expensive pathway to approval. Which of the many approaches under study will make it to the market is presently not clear.
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Expert Rev Clin Immunol · Jan 2015
Editorial ReviewUtilizing social networks, blogging and YouTube in allergy and immunology practices.
Online social networks are used to connect with friends and family members, and increasingly, to stay up-to-date with the latest news and developments in allergy and immunology. As communication is a central part of healthcare delivery, the utilization of such networking channels in allergy and immunology will continue to grow. ⋯ There is a paucity of information in the literature on how social network interventions affect patient outcomes. The allergy and immunology community should direct future studies towards investigating how the use of social networks and other technology tools and services can improve patient care.
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Expert Rev Clin Immunol · Mar 2014
EditorialThe practical role of serum allergen-specific IgE as potential biomarker for predicting responder to allergen immunotherapy.
Allergic asthma and rhinitis are characterized by IgE-mediated inflammation consequent to the exposure to a specific allergen. Therefore, IgE production may be considered the hallmark of allergy. Actually, allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the unique causal treatment for respiratory allergy. ⋯ This issue has been the topic of several studies. Very recently, it has been preliminarly reported that a cut-off of serum specific IgE levels could define AIT-responder. However, further rigorous studies will confirm this view.