The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
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Anaphylaxis during pregnancy, labor, and delivery can be catastrophic for the mother and, especially, the infant. Symptoms and signs can include intense vulvar and vaginal itching, low back pain, uterine cramps, fetal distress, and preterm labor. During the first 3 trimesters, etiologies are similar to those in nonpregnant women. ⋯ In all women of child-bearing age, allergy/immunology specialists can help to prevent anaphylaxis in pregnancy through prepregnancy risk assessment and risk reduction strategies, such as confirming the etiology of systemic allergic reactions, providing written instructions for allergen avoidance, and initiating relevant immune modulation. In pregnant women the benefits versus risks of skin tests, challenge tests, desensitization, and initiation of immunotherapy with allergens should be carefully weighed; if possible, these procedures should be deferred until after parturition. Prospective interdisciplinary studies of anaphylaxis during pregnancy are needed.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Aug 2012
ReviewDiagnosis and management of early asthma in preschool-aged children.
Asthma is a common disease in young children and is associated with significant morbidity and an increasing prevalence over time. Early childhood wheezing and asthma are heterogeneous disorders; thus identifying phenotypes of asthma remains a goal to identify high-risk children who might benefit from specific therapies or secondary prevention interventions. The typical pattern of illness in preschool-aged children consists of short but recurrent exacerbations of cough and wheeze usually triggered by viral respiratory tract infections. ⋯ Strategies used to manage intermittent disease include daily and intermittent controller therapy. Management strategies for persistent asthma include daily inhaled corticosteroids, daily leukotriene receptor antagonists, and combination therapies. Finally, regular monitoring of symptom control and medication side effects is important along with titrating controllers to the minimally effective dose.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Apr 2012
ReviewMultiple-allergen and single-allergen immunotherapy strategies in polysensitized patients: looking at the published evidence.
In allergen immunotherapy there is debate as to whether polysensitized patients are best treated with many allergens simultaneously (chosen according to the sensitization profile, a predominantly North American approach) or a single allergen (chosen according to the most clinically problematic allergy, a predominantly European approach). In patients seeking treatment for moderate-to-severe respiratory allergies, polysensitization is more prevalent (range, 50% to 80%) than monosensitization in both the United States and Europe. Safe, effective, single-allergen preparations will most likely have been tested in polysensitized patients. ⋯ A recent review of multiallergen immunotherapy concluded that simultaneous delivery of multiple unrelated allergens can be clinically effective but that there was a need for additional investigation of therapy with more than 2 allergen extracts (particularly in sublingual allergen immunotherapy). More work is also required to determine whether single-allergen and multiallergen immunotherapy protocols elicit distinct immune responses in monosensitized and polysensitized patients. Sublingual and subcutaneous multiallergen immunotherapy in polysensitized patients requires more supporting data to validate its efficacy in practice.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Jan 2012
ReviewRespiratory health effects of air pollution: update on biomass smoke and traffic pollution.
Mounting evidence suggests that air pollution contributes to the large global burden of respiratory and allergic diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and possibly tuberculosis. Although associations between air pollution and respiratory disease are complex, recent epidemiologic studies have led to an increased recognition of the emerging importance of traffic-related air pollution in both developed and less-developed countries, as well as the continued importance of emissions from domestic fires burning biomass fuels, primarily in the less-developed world. ⋯ These studies indicate that air pollution from these sources is a major preventable cause of increased incidence and exacerbation of respiratory disease. Physicians can help to reduce the risk of adverse respiratory effects of exposure to biomass and traffic air pollutants by promoting awareness and supporting individual and community-level interventions.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Sep 2011
Review Case ReportsEvaluation of the child with recurrent wheezing.