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Epinephrine MDIs containing CFCs should not be given an exemption to remain OTC, says 84 percent of readers responding. Also, 83% say albuterol should not receive OTC status.

SMART study published
The long-awaited SMART study manuscript has been published. This large multicenter study of salmeterol was terminated when data revealed that the drug may pose a slightly higher risk for respiratory and asthma-related deaths in some patients, according to a report in the January issue of Chest. The study compared respiratory- and asthma-related outcomes in 26,355 subjects (71 percent white and 18 percent black) receiving usual asthma pharmacotherapy alone or usual asthma pharmacotherapy plus salmeterol for 28 weeks. White patients in both groups showed no significant difference in the number of life-threatening or fatal respiratory or asthma-related episodes. In contrast, about four times as many black patients receiving salmeterol reported serious side effects. Overall, the actual number of patients negatively affected was less than 1 percent of the groups sampled. 

CDC: Flu resistant to two antiviral drugs
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking doctors not to prescribe two antiviral drugs — rimantadine and amantadine — after discovering that the predominant strain of the influenza virus has built up high levels of resistance to the drugs within one year. Of influenza virus samples tested by the CDC, 91 percent were resistant to the two drugs, a marked increase over last year’s 11 percent. Two newer antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, are being recommended for ordinary flu.

Changes at home may improve inner-city kids’ asthma symptoms
Exterminating cockroaches and using air cleaners to reduce dust, smoke and other indoor allergens may reduce asthma symptoms in inner-city children, according to a study in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore randomly divided 100 6- to 12-year olds with asthma into two groups: a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group received home-based education, cockroach and rodent extermination, allergen-proof fitted mattress and pillow coverings and high-efficiency air cleaners. The control group received none of these interventions. The children underwent home evaluations at six months and home and clinic evaluations at 12 months, as well as quarterly telephone interviews. After 12 months, household dust and smoke levels decreased by up to 39 percent in the study group, but increased in controls. Cockroach allergen levels dropped by 51 percent in the study group. Nighttime symptoms, ED visits and other measures of asthma severity were not significantly different between the groups. But, the treatment group’s daytime asthma symptoms improved, while the comparison group’s worsened.   

Glitches interrupting Medicare prescription coverage
Medicare patients could have trouble getting their prescriptions during the first couple of weeks of the new prescription drug benefit, according to a Medicare official. About 20 states have stepped in to help. Problems include patients not showing up in databases as being enrolled in a plan or patients being charged hundreds of dollars for their prescriptions, when they should owe only nominal amounts. Mark McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pledged to fix the problems.   

Apply for ACAAI leadership role by Feb. 1
The ACAAI invites applications for Vice President for 2006-07, Treasurer for 2006-07, and for a position on its Board of Regents for 2006-09. All interested Fellows are encouraged to submit a standardized questionnaire with a cover letter and curriculum vitae to ACAAI no later than Feb. 1. Applicants for the position of vice president must have previously served a three-year term on the ACAAI Board of Regents.

Annual Meeting faculty donate $12,000 to the ACAAI Foundation
The following Annual Meeting speakers donated their honoraria to the Foundation of ACAAI through the Tithe-a-Talk program:
 

J. Spencer Atwater, M.D. Emil J. Bardana Jr., M.D. David I. Bernstein, M.D. Thomas B. Casale, M.D. Bradley E. Chipps, M.D. Daniel Ein, M.D. Ira Finegold, M.D. Joan M. Gluck, M.D. David M. Lang, M.D. Phillip Lieberman, M.D.

Todd A. Mahr, M.D. Anthony Montanaro, M.D. Jay M. Portnoy, M.D. Russell A. Settipane, M.D. Charles Siegel, M.D. Sheldon L. Spector, M.D. William W. Storms, M.D. James L. Sublett, M.D. Richard W. Weber, M.D.

The "Tithe-a-Talk" Contribution Form makes it easy for you to donate honoraria from speaking engagements without having the donated honorarium added to your taxable income. Simply complete the form and (1) present it to the association/company that is sponsoring your talk, and (2) send a copy to ACAAI for acknowledgment of your contribution.

FAAN urges food-allergic patients to read all food labels
Until all food products are compliant with labeling required by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumers Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) – which took effect Jan. 1, 2006 – there will commonly be two different ingredient statements for the same product on a store shelf.

“This situation is causing confusion and frustration to FAAN members already, and I believe it will be worse before it gets better,” said FAAN founder and CEO Anne Munoz-Furlong. “Therefore, the key message now more than ever is that patients must read ingredient statements for all foods – even products they have safely consumed in the past.”

FALCPA was passed to ensure that individuals could easily and accurately identify food ingredients that may cause reactions by reading food labels. Under FALCPA, allergen declarations must be written in plain English. FALCPA applies to all packaged foods (except meat, poultry, and certain egg products) sold in the United States, whether they are manufactured in the United States or manufactured abroad and imported into the United States.

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 61 of the 6th edition of Middleton’s Allergy Principles and Practice, edited by N. Franklin Adkinson, et al. Review questions were written by Drs. Eric Chenworth, Mayo Clinic; Karla R. Davis, Walter Reed Medical Center; Anne K. Ellis, McMaster University; and Soo Kim-Delio, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.