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Young children with atopy more likely to snore
Young children diagnosed with atopy are prone to frequent snoring, according to a study in Chest. Scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center studied 681 children (average age 1 year) in the Cincinnati area, all born to parents diagnosed as atopic. Parent questionnaires provided information about infant snoring, parental snoring, infant atopic status and infant exposure to parental smoking. Subjects also were given blood tests to assess infant allergies, such as grass pollens, ragweed, various trees, dust mites, penicillin, cockroaches, cats and dogs. Children who tested positive for atopy were nearly twice as likely to habitually snore as non-atopic children.


Antibiotics could play role in acute asthma exacerbations
A drug company-sponsored study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that antibiotics may help people struggling with acute asthma exacerbations. Researchers at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London studied 278 adults with diagnosed asthma, who were enrolled within 24 hours of having an acute exacerbation. Subjects were randomly assigned either 10-day treatment with telithromycin (800 milligrams daily) or a placebo, in addition to usual care that could include a corticosteroid. Researchers also tested subjects for C. pneumoniae or M. pneumoniae. At the trial’s start, telithromycin subjects rated their symptoms at an average of 3, on a 0-7 scale. At treatment’s end, the average score dropped to 1.7. The placebo subjects started at 2.8 and declined to 2.0. Telithromycin subjects also reported improvements in symptom-free days and in lung function assessments, but not peak expiratory (exhaling) flow rates.

Ineffective skin barrier may be responsible for immune reaction
Over-production of a specific protein reduces the protective properties of some people’s skin, causing inflammatory disorders, such as hay fever, asthma, eczema and psoriasis, according to a study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health say when the skin barrier is compromised, allergens can enter the body and cause an inflammatory reaction that, as a result, stimulates skin cells to grow rapidly, further reducing the skin’s protective function. The compromised barrier, in turn, becomes more porous to allergens that then stimulate more inflammation in a cycle that eventually produces common skin conditions, such as psoriasis and eczema. Because people with eczema are more likely to develop hay fever and asthma, researchers suggest a possible link between the disorders.  

Food Allergy Awareness Week to be May 14-20
The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network is again promoting Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 14-20, which includes activities geared toward lawmakers, schools and day care centers, restaurants and the media. The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network was established in 1991 to raise public awareness, to provide advocacy and education, and to advance research on behalf of all those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis.  

AHRQ announces audio newscast series: Healthcare411
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a new audio newscast series to help keep you informed of the Agency's latest health care research findings, news and information. AHRQ’s mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. AHRQ is the lead Federal agency in the effort to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors. Go to www.healthcare411.org to hear the newscasts through your computer or download them to a portable digital player (such as an iPod).

Call for abstracts: deadline is July 16
The deadline for online submission of clinical and research findings for consideration by the ACAAI Annual Meeting Abstract Review Committee is July 16.

Only electronic submissions will be accepted on the ACAAI Web site. On-screen prompts will take you through the submission process.

If you have already begun to enter an abstract in the system -- but did not actually hit the "submit" button -- you must go back into the system and submit. After the abstract is submitted, you will receive an email confirmation. Abstracts not officially submitted cannot be considered.

Groundbreaking intervention's lessons
help alleviate asthma in inner-city children
Health care professionals who want to organize a comprehensive asthma management program for children and families, particularly in the inner-city, have a new resource at their disposal. A tool kit released by the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) shares proven strategies and lessons learned from a groundbreaking, multi-site intervention that has helped a vulnerable population overcome asthma.

Alleviate Asthma! Cultivating a Successful Pediatric Asthma Initiative contains the collective teachings of 25 health care institutions that participated in the Inner-city Asthma Intervention, a four-year Centers for Disease Control & Prevention-funded project to help inner-city children and their families who are affected by chronic childhood asthma. The ACHP tool kit, which was also funded as part of the CDC project, discusses strategies from the programs staged at these institutions.

“Many asthma interventions such as the National Cooperative Inner City Asthma Study have been shown to be effective in the context of grant-funded clinical trials,” said ACAAI Vice President Dr. Jay M. Portnoy, who participated in testing the model at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Mo. “The real challenge is to implement them effectively in real-world situations where less than perfect adherence and followup occur.”

The model tested in the CDC project uses the NCICAS protocol while adapting it to typical clinical settings. The lessons learned by these 25 sites were used to develop the ACHP tool kit. It is available publicly for use by sites that wish to improve outcomes for their most challenging asthma patients.

“I would like to see more implementation projects of this type. If we don’t follow up our scientifically based interventions with public dissemination, then research that is funded by our public dollars is unlikely to benefit our patients in the way that it should. Given the world-wide increase in asthma morbidity and mortality, we cannot afford to overlook this resource. We have a lot of work to do. The time to start is now,” Dr. Portnoy said.

Register for Athens meeting and save: rates increase April 30
Registration rates for the ACAAI and HSACI Joint Allergy Symposium in Athens will increase 15 percent on April 30 – so register today!

Allergy Update in Greece, Sept. 6-9, 2006, offers the opportunity to attend a state-of-the-art scientific program, while visiting the enchanting city of Athens.

This international meeting brings together many of the finest researchers and clinicians to present cutting edge lectures on the most important topics for the clinical practice of allergy and immunology.

Plan to join your colleagues in Athens, one of the most exciting cities in the world, the metropolis of wisdom, philosophy and inspiration. The modern Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel is the perfect venue for this meeting, with its spacious conference center and view of the Acropolis.

Immunology Review Corner
Welcome to the Board Review Corner, prepared by Dr. Karla R. Davis, senior representative of ACAAI’s fellows-in-training (FITs) to the Board of Regents. The Board Review Corner is your chance to test your Board preparedness.

To refer to a previous Board Review Corner, click the “Archive” link in the left column.

Immunology Review Corner: Chapter 67 of the 6th edition of Middleton’s Allergy Principles and Practice, edited by N. Franklin Adkinson, et al. Rrepared by Drs. Karla R. Davis, Walter Reed Medical Center; Anne K. Ellis, McMaster University; and Soo Kim-Delio, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.