Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology
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Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol · Dec 2003
ReviewPrevention of anaphylaxis with ant venom immunotherapy.
Worldwide, eight genera of ants have been associated with sting allergy. Until recently only whole ant body extracts have been used for immunotherapy. The purpose of this review is to examine recent advances in the understanding of ant venom allergy and treatment using venom immunotherapy. ⋯ Ant venom immunotherapy is feasible and highly efficacious. However, the limited geographical distribution of each species presents a major challenge to making venom extracts available for clinical use.
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Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol · Aug 2003
ReviewUse of epinephrine in the treatment of anaphylaxis.
This paper is intended to review recent literature that impacts the use of epinephrine in the therapy of anaphylaxis. ⋯ Several major themes have emerged from this review of the recent literature. The finding that the intramuscular route of administration for epinephrine is superior has now been recognized by the guidelines, and because the site of choice has been found to be the lateral aspect of the thigh, the needle used for injection must be long enough to penetrate the vastus lateralis muscle. The reasons for the underutilization of epinephrine in the treatment of anaphylaxis are also discussed. Other important findings include the fact that outdated EpiPens can usually be administered safely, and alternative routes of administration, which may be more acceptable to patients, may be on the horizon as a result of preliminary studies assessing the administration of sublingual epinephrine by wafer. Finally, it is now understood that epinephrine prescription data may be one of our best tools to study the epidemiology and incidence of anaphylactic episodes.
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Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol · Apr 2002
ReviewUtilization of pulmonary function measurements in the assessment of occupational asthma.
Lung function assessments that include spirometry and bronchial responsiveness are now often coupled to immunological assessment and an evaluation of inflammation in the investigation of occupational asthma. For diagnostic purposes, evidence points out that specific inhalation challenges are the gold standard, as previously suspected. In the epidemiological setting, both spirometry and bronchial responsiveness are feasible and safe. The role of lung function assessments in surveillance programmes is still open to discussion.