Allergies come in all shapes and sizes ...
Just like allergy sufferers. And they are on the rise. For many people allergies can range from sniffling and sneezing to skin rashes to gastrointestinal issues. A certain percentage, however, have more than these uncomfortable symptoms to deal with. Anaphylaxis, a serious life-threatening reaction, causes approximately 1,500 deaths a year in the United States alone. Clearly, allergies are nothing to sneeze at!
Articles for Advocacy
If you are the parent of a child with a peanut allergy, you understand the challenges of both educating your child and being vigilant in avoiding contact with peanuts, or products that include peanuts. Both the challenges and means to decrease peanut sensitivity were topics at a recent Annual Scientific Meeting meeting of the American College of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology (ACAAI). Included were discussions of Palforzia, a treatment option intended to decrease sensitivity to peanuts over time in pediatric populations.
Syed Shahzad Mustafa, MD, the University of Rochester Medicine and Dentistry, spoke with HPCLive regarding some of the data presented at ACAAI, as well as what physicians and caregivers could do to aid in the adoption of Palforzia therapy.
Shazhad Mustafa, MD: Advancing Pediatric Peanut Allergy Management
November 11, 2021
Armand Butera
Dr. S. Shazad Mustafa speaks on new data related to peanut allergy and Palforzia therapy that were presented at the most recent ACAAI session.
This past weekend, Aimmune Therapeutics presented new data at the American College of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting that detailed the burden of peanut allergy (PA) in affected patients, as well as real-world experiences with Palforzia, a treatment option intended to decrease sensitivity to peanuts over time in pediatric populations.
In an interview with HCPLive, Syed Shahzad Mustafa, MD, the University of Rochester Medicine and Dentistry, spoke of some of the data presented at ACAAI, as well as what physicians and caregivers could do to aid in the adoption of Palforzia therapy.
The discussion began with details on the burden of PA, as well as data from the Peanut Allergy Burden Study.
The Peanut Allergy Burden study examined the real-world impact of PA in 153 adults and 102 adolescents, as well as 382 caregivers of peanut-allergic children.
Cases of anaphylaxis in children are on the rise. And while there has been an increase in cases, the use of epinephrine “the treatment of choice for anaphylaxis and the only drug known to halt its progression — remains at suboptimal levels”. These were the findings of a recent study presented by Dr Juli Wang, at the annual conference of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). The report stated that “delayed administration of epinephrine has been linked to greater risk of a biphasic reaction, a reoccurrence of anaphylaxis that can happen hours after the initial symptoms are treated”. Dr. Wang is an MD and professor of pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Study Finds Epinephrine Remains Alarmingly Underused for Anaphylaxis in Children
By Dave Bloom
2021/11/08
Dr Juli Wang, started her presentation of key updates in pediatric anaphylaxis at the annual conference of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) with a warning:
Anaphylaxis remains an important allergic disorder, and the prevalence has been rising.
Dr Wang is an MD and professor of pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the substance of her talk provided ample evidence.
According to data derived from the National Inpatient Sample on 2006 to 2015 cases of anaphylaxis, the prevalence has risen across most age groups — 3 to younger than 6 years, 6 to younger than 12 years, and 12 to younger than 18 years — with the highest increases seen in preschool- and elementary-aged children. Cases for children younger than 3 years remained steady.
Allergies now appear to be prevalent in our society, but that wasn’t always the case. Until the beginning of the 20th century, having a food allergy was rare. What factors have contributed to this explosion and what can we learn to perhaps find ways to help protect people. A fascinating study, by Dr Kirsi Järvinen-Seppo, an associate professor at the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and the Center for Food Allergy of the University of Rochester and Antti E. Seppo PHD
University of Rochester Medical School; Research Associate Professor explore the farming life of Mennotie families in upstate New York. In this study the authors examine the potential allergy protection benefits of breast milk from Mennontite moms to their babies as compared to the breast milk from mothers in urban settings.
Breast Milk from Mennonite Moms on Farms May Better Protect Babies from Allergies
This article was originally published in Frontiers in Immunology October 2021.
Women from traditional farming communities, such as old order Mennonites, may pass protection against atopic diseases on to their infants through their milk
Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
November 2021
Atopic diseases, which include eczema, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and food allergy, are closely linked to allergies against airborne particles, such as pollen, dust, mold, or animal dander, or foodstuffs like peanut, milk, soy, shellfish, or wheat. Until the early 20th century, allergy was thought to be a rare disease. But since in the 1920s to 1930s and especially since the second half of the 20th century, the prevalence of allergies has exploded in Western societies. For example, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology estimates that half of the population of the EU will have allergies by 2025: an increase by 20 percent points since 2015. Similarly, a survey from 2020 estimated that approximately 100 million (30%) Americans of all ages have allergies today.
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