Food allergies not as common as parents think
In many cases, parents wrongly believe rashes and runny noses are related to food allergies, according to a study in Allergy. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, followed more than 900 children from birth to age 3. One-third of the parents attributed symptoms like rash, diarrhea and nasal congestion to foods their children had eaten, but only about 5 percent of the children actually developed a food hypersensitivity based on clinical testing.

College, allergy testing parameter featured on CNN
On CNN’s “American Morning” March 10, Elizabeth Cohen discussed the new Joint Task Force Practice Parameter, "Allergy Diagnostic Testing: An Updated Practice Parameter" published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. She urged patients to question some allergy test results and to go to a Board-certified allergist to find out exactly what they are allergic to.

Anaphylaxis risk differs among adults, kids with mastocytosis
While all adult patients with mastocytosis are at risk for severe anaphylaxis, only children with mastocytosis and extensive skin disease run such a risk, according to a study in Allergy. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, attempted to identify risk factors for anaphylaxis in 120 consecutive mastocytosis patients. They found that in children, the extent and density of skin lesions was a risk factor for anaphylaxis (p < 0.01 for each). The severity of skin lesions also was correlated with increased serum tryptase levels (p < 0.03). Adults with systemic disease had a higher incidence of anaphylaxis (p < 0.02). According to the authors, adult mastocytosis patients should receive an epinephrine autoinjector as a precaution because of their increased risk of anaphylaxis.

A message from Dr. J. Allen Meadows, Board of Regents, 2003–2006

ACAAI activities on Capitol Hill and future opportunities for our membership

Our president, Dr. Jay Portnoy, has asked me to write an update about our legislative activities and an exciting opportunity for all ACAAI members. As a physician who has traveled to Washington, D.C., frequently to advocate for issues important to physicians and patients, I have a unique perspective in this area. For the last four years, the Board of Regents of the ACAAI has been meeting in the spring with members of the House and Senate, advocating for a number of issues important to allergists, and we invite you to join us.

For many of us, traveling to Washington and visiting a legislator may be right up there with visiting the dentist in terms of things we would want to do. Most of us as physicians perceive politics as “dirty business,” and if we just “do the right things,” everything will “work out.” Unfortunately, many changes that have occurred in Washington, D.C., have not been to the benefit of physicians. Traditionally, physician groups have been slow to contact their elected officials in an organized way. I’ll review how you can participate, but first let’s examine our current activity and accomplishments.

As I'm sure most of you are aware, because of an error in the formula used to calculate a cost of living adjustment for physicians by Medicare (referred to as SGR), all physicians are subject to annual, scheduled, Medicare fee cuts. This issue faces everyone in medicine, and our legislators need to hear from all of us regularly. Congressional action taken before the end of 2007 has stopped the forecasted 9-percent, across-the-board cut in Medicare physician payments scheduled for early 2008. Although passage of the legislation stopping the cuts was critically important, it was only a six-month reprieve and an 11-percent cut in Medicare fees is projected for July 1. Unless further action is taken, additional cuts will occur in June. Your ACAAI board, working with others including the AMA, has made fixing the Medicare payment crisis a priority on each of our visits to Capitol Hill.

However, perhaps the biggest issue facing allergy is the lack of funding for graduate medical education (GME), specifically allergy fellowship programs, which threatens our specialty with extinction. Because of cuts in funding for training programs in the 1990s, allergists are retiring at a rate faster than we are being trained. Additionally, there is now an increasing demand for allergy and immunology services. I will not repeat the past discussions in this column so eloquently outlined previously by Dr. William Dolen (Dec. 7, 2005 and Dec. 21, 2005 ), and in “America Faces an Allergy and Asthma Crisis,” a brochure published by the College. Briefly, this paper reviews the financial options for funding allergy training programs and leads to one inescapable conclusion: there is a need for additional federal funding for allergy training programs. This will not happen without work. If we do not step up to the plate to advocate for our specialty, no one else will.

The boards of the ACAAI and the AMA expect much work will need to be done, especially with a new Congress and a new president in 2009. To achieve our common goals, we need the help of our membership. We are proud of the work done by U.S. Congressman, Steve Kagen, who was a practicing allergist from Appleton, Wis., and look forward to continued partnership with him.

Other physician specialty groups are active in Washington, D.C. My home state of Alabama sent more than 150 doctors on our annual trip to Washington, D.C., in January. Annually, the American Academy of Otolaryngology brings approximately 1,500 people to their annual advocacy meeting. Many important issues are facing medicine in general, and our specialty specifically. Our legislators need to hear directly from their constituents (both doctors and patients) about issues that are of concern, and they need to hear messages repeatedly.

On behalf of Dr. Portnoy and the entire Board of Regents, I invite you to join us in our advocacy efforts for allergists on Thursday, May 1. We are particularly interested in having former and potential future Regents join us, as well as anyone who wants to be more involved. While experience with visiting legislators is helpful, it is not required. We are planning an educational session on Thursday morning before our visits to the Hill to help us prepare and provide us with materials about the issues we will be addressing. Activities will include role-playing, a presentation by our ACAAI lobbying firm, and a presentation by our AMA lobbyist.

SLIT surveillance program under way
The Immunotherapy & Diagnostic Committee is initiating a surveillance program to monitor serious systemic allergic reactions associated with subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) injections. The main objectives of the program, jointly sponsored by the College and Academy, are to improve overall reporting of fatal and near-fatal SCIT reactions and gather data demonstrating that SCIT is safe when practiced by certified allergists.

Member allergists will be surveyed annually beginning next month. To allay understandable concerns about maintaining confidentiality and anonymity related to reporting, the new program will be administered by an independent research assistant who will contact physicians annually by e-mail, fax or phone to complete the questionnaire surveys. After data is collected, personal identifiers will be removed from physician respondents and office locations, and reported events will be assigned study numbers before the data is tabulated and analyzed.

We strongly encourage all members to participate. By gathering representative data to evaluate and confirm the safety of SCIT, this type of information will help support the future role of SCIT as an integral part of allergy practice. The study is being organized and conducted by Dr. David I. Bernstein, Dr. Gary M. Liss, and Arline Gerard-Prentice, R.N., and the Immunotherapy Committees of the College and Academy.

Asthma Screening Program deadline is March 15
The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology invites you to help people breathe easier by participating in the 2008 Nationwide Asthma Screening Program.

March 15 is the deadline for signing up to participate in this year's program. Although an asthma screening can be held at any time during the year, participation must be registered by the deadline so that materials can be produced and reserved for your program.

The Nationwide Asthma Screening Program is an important public service campaign to promote early detection and effective treatment of asthma. More than 108,000 adults and children have been screened and more than half referred for a professional diagnosis. The program, supported by a grant from AstraZeneca, reaches both those who don’t know their breathing problems might be asthma and those who know they have asthma but do not have the condition under control.

For a limited time, as a special benefit of your ACAAI membership, you can get free access to ReachMD XM radio channel 157. This six-month free access to ReachMD XM 157 is a $23.99 value, giving you the ability to listen to this outstanding medical content live online or download the interviews as podcasts. To redeem your free member benefit go to www.reachmd.com and click on the “Redeem Promotion Code.” Enter the code: ACAAI. Press SUBMIT.

View the new Literature Review Course vodcasts
Presentations from the popular Literature Review Course at the 2007 ACAAI Annual Meeting, are vodcast weekly.

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

Take action during Asthma Awareness Month!
May is Asthma Awareness Month. Join the U.S. EPA in the national effort to raise awareness about asthma. Asthma Awareness Month provides activities to educate people in your community about comprehensive asthma management. Download EPA’s new Asthma Awareness Month Event Planning Kit featuring new ideas for outreach and awareness activities, tips for working with the media, success stories, and much more.

Once you have planned your activities, share them by using the online Activity Submittal Form to promote your event at no cost and gain exposure for your important work on EPA’s national Web site.

World Asthma Day is an annual awareness-raising event organized and sponsored by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA).

Conference calls will help you prepare for Asthma Camp
The Consortium of Children’s Asthma Camps is offering the following series of free conference calls to assist you and your staff in preparing for the 2008 camping season:

Board Review Corner
Welcome to the Board Review Corner prepared by Drs. Bret R. Haymore and Jennifer W. Mbuthia, Senior and Junior Representatives of ACAAI’s fellows-in-training (FITs) to the Board of Regents. The Board Review Corner is an opportunity to help hone your Board preparedness.

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

Review Questions: Chapter 22 of Pediatric Allergy: Principles & Practices, edited by Dr. Donald Y.M. Leung, et al. Review questions were written by Drs. Jennifer Mbuthia, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Gregory Metz, Duke University.