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Study: Asthma not controlled in 55 percent
with moderate-to-severe disease
A recent study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that asthma was not controlled in 55 percent of Americans with moderate-to-severe asthma, despite most having health insurance and regularly visiting a general practitioner. Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine's Center for Human Genomics examined data from a Web-based survey of 1,812 patients with an asthma diagnosis for at least one year and receiving multiple controller medications. Only 26 percent of subjects with controlled asthma and 35 percent with uncontrolled asthma had received an asthma action plan. 

Infant antibiotic use may increase asthma risk
Antibiotic use during the first year of life may increase a child’s risk of developing asthma, according to a longitudinal Canadian study in Chest. Researchers at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg looked at health care and prescription databases in Manitoba, assessing the association between antibiotic prescription use during the first year of life and asthma at 7 years in a 1995 birth cohort of 13,116 children. The risk was highest among infants who had received more than four courses of antibiotics for non-respiratory tract infections, as well as those who received prescriptions for broad-spectrum antibiotics — especially broad-spectrum cephalosporins. 

Children’s snoring may be tied to allergic disease
Risk factors for snoring are similar to risk factors for allergic disease, and snoring may even be part of the allergic spectrum of diseases, according to an Australian study in Pediatric Pulmonology. Scientists at the Woolcock Institute for Medical Research in Sydney evaluated a subgroup of 213 5-year-olds participating in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study whose parents reported that they had rhinitis for at least one week during the previous year. Of those children, nearly 60 percent snored at least once a week and 26 percent snored more than three nights a week. First-born children were 2.5 times more likely to snore than children with older siblings, and a mother who smoked at home during a their first year increased snoring risk 2.4-fold. Children with asthma were 2.51 times more likely to snore, and children with eczema were 2.29 times more likely to be snorers. Body mass index had no relationship to snoring.

FDA approves once-daily antihistamine Xyzal
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved levocetirizine dihydrochloride (brand name Xyzal) to treat nasal allergies and chronic hives in people 6 years and older, according to manufacturers UCB and sanofi-aventis. A statement by the companies said the drug significantly reduced symptoms of sneezing, itchy and runny nose, and itchy eyes during clinical testing involving more than 2,000 people. It also reduced the severity of itching and the number and size of wheals among people with chronic hives. Common side effects included fatigue, dry mouth, and nasal inflammation.  

Literature Review Course in Philly vodcast weekly
View presentations from the popular Literature Review Course, Everything You Should Have Read Last Year, But Didn’t, held at the ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting last November, as video podcasts (vodcasts) – when you want, where you want.

Users can retrieve files manually from the College Web site or subscribe at no cost to an RSS feed which will automatically send an alert when a new presentation is posted. Members can view 30-minute vodcasts of key sessions on their computers or download them as files directly to portable media players.

Each vodcast contains the original audio and presentation slides and can be viewed from a computer or downloaded to a portable media player (such as an iPod).

Previous vodcasts from the International Food Allergy Symposium and the “Asthma Control: How Are We Doing?” symposium are archived for continued viewing.

The ACAAI vodcast program is sponsored by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.

Drs. Alan and David Redding to star on new
TLC Network TV show, ‘Diagnosis X’
Identical twin fellows-in-training Dr. Alan R. Redding, University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and Dr. David R. Redding, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, will be acting out an actual allergy-immunology case together on one episode of a new TLC Network television drama series titled Diagnosis X starting July 25.

Producers recruited the twins at a fellows-in-training event at the 2007 AAAAI scientific meeting in San Diego. “They went to the party hoping to find young doctors who would be willing and able to provide them with a story and play themselves. The producers walked up to us and asked if we wanted to be on television,” said Dr. Alan Redding.

Participating doctors in Diagnosis X provide an interesting case, and the production company writes a script based on the case. Dr. Alan Redding said the show is unique and spontaneous, and although they received tips during filming, they both actually play themselves.

In their episode, Dr. Alan Redding treats a patient with IPEX Syndrome, based on a case that he is submitting as an abstract at the ACAAI Annual Meeting. IPEX Syndrome is a rare, inherited condition characterized by immune dysfunction, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy and X-linked recessive inheritance. IPEX syndrome leads to death without prompt diagnosis. He, however, has had good outcomes treating the disease.

Dr. David Redding was written into the script as his twin and another doctor on the case. “Alan’s case is well-suited for the show. Even though I was acting a part, we were residents together and often consulted with each other regarding our patients. I am glad they were able to include me in the program. It was a lot of fun,” he said.

Donated items needed for Silent Auction
The Alliance, the College and the Foundation will again host a silent auction at the ACAAI Annual Meeting in Dallas. The proceeds will help support clinical research and education through Young Faculty Awards, Scholars Return Awards and the projects of the Consortium on Children’s Asthma Camps.

We need your support for this worthwhile cause by donating and soliciting quality items including artwork, trips, services, gift items, jewelry, tickets to major events or hand-crafted items. Cash donations are also welcome for purchasing auctioned items – an excellent way to add value to your contribution. The auction items will be available for viewing in the Alliance Hospitality Suite Friday, and Saturday morning. The auction will be held Saturday night, Nov. 10, at the Welcome Reception.

For more details or to make a donation, please call Marcee Claflin at (405) 340-1274 or e-mail marceeh519@aol.com.

Board Review Corner
Welcome to the Board Review Corner prepared by Soo Kim-Delio, M.D., 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 “FIT Archive” link in the left column.

Review Questions: Chapter 3 of Pediatric Allergy: Principles & Practices, edited by Donald Y.M. Leung, et al. Review questions were written by Drs. Bret Haymore, Jiun Yoon and Soo Kim-Delio, Walter Reed Army Medical Center.