1,720,999 research outputs found
Response to Allergy societies and the formula industry
No full textIn 2020, the BSACI's policy on how it interacts with industry [1] was ratified at the annual general meeting by members. This policy enables BSACI to balance the advantages of working in partnership with industry to bring real benefit to patients while at the same time ensuring we do not compromise the integrity and independence of the BSACI. One of the drivers for this policy was the 2016 WHO guidance on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes (WHA resolution 69.9) [2].</p
NICE and easy? Ensuring equitable access to NICE-approved treatments in children and young people
Full text linkThe National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently approved Palforzia, an oral immunotherapy product for the treatment of peanut allergy in peanut-allergic children aged 4–17 years.1 Palforzia contains precise amounts of defatted peanut powder and can be used to gradually increase the body’s ability to tolerate small amounts of peanut. It may also help reduce the severity of allergic reactions after being exposed to peanu
Upskilling healthcare professionals to manage clinical allergy
No full textIt has long been recognised that given the high prevalence and considerable impact of allergic disease globally, there needs to be a focus on appropriate training for clinical professionals. The health-economic consequences of allergic disease are significant, with both direct healthcare costs (doctor, nurse and dietitian consultations, hospital admissions and prescribed medications) and indirect costs (lost school and work time, reduced productivity and over-the-counter medications). There is also a well recognised impairment of quality of life, with less tangible costs including anxiety, distress, discomfort, disability and, occasionally, death. To help to mitigate these effects, there is a need to upskill the professional workforce at all levels, and also to equip those trained with the skills to become future healthare professional trainers. Upskilling the workforce from the grass-roots of undergraduate study in Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (AHP) through the entirety of training to senior consultant levels could have a major beneficial impact on the patient and their families, lead to a reduction in emergency use of clinical service, and help increase economic productivity.</p
Evaluation of a children's pollen immunotherapy service
No full textBackground: The international group, Allergic Rhinitis and Its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) developed guidelines for the management of allergic rhinitis (AR) defining criteria to enable clinicians to identify those suitable for specificimmunotherapy (SIT). This article examines the management of AR in children and describes a service evaluation which examines the safety and efficacy of SIT in a children’s tertiary allergy service.Methods: Data for the service evaluation were gathered from the clinic notes of children who commenced either sublingual (SLIT) or subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) to tree or grass pollen prior to the 2011 season.Results: Data were obtained from 54 (66.7%) children receiving grass and 27 (33.3%) receiving tree pollen SIT. Children who had immunotherapy administered via the subcutaneous route had more reactions on administration (77.8%); none of the reactions were life-threatening or required administration of adrenaline. There was a significant improvement in quality of life questionnaire (QLQ) scores in children receiving SIT; 90.9% of parents felt there was improvement (p<0.0001).Conclusion: Both modalities of SIT were shown to be safe in this cohort of children. Despite only having 1 year’s treatment with immunotherapy there was a significant improvement in QLQ scores for children in both the SCIT and SLIT groups
Preventing food allergy fatalities
No full textFatal anaphylaxis to food is thankfully rare, but every death is a potentially avoidable tragedy. Usually, there will be a coronial inquest to establish the 'how and why' for each death. Reviewing these food allergy-related deaths identifies a number of common themes and risk factors. While some are non-modifiable (such as age, gender and ethnicity), others are and include delayed epinephrine administration and communication difficulties in allergen avoidance. This review highlights the key messages in food allergy-related fatality prevention for healthcare professionals and patients alike, and where available, we explain the evidence behind such recommendations. We describe the data behind the good practice points to facilitate their adoption in routine practice without generating additional anxiety for what is a comparatively rare event. We also propose an information leaflet for patients and carers, developed with patients and endorsed by two major allergy charities, to facilitate dissemination of the recommendations in this review
Identifying patients at risk of anaphylaxis
No full textAnaphylaxis is an acute, potentially fatal, systemic hypersensitivity reaction that warrants prompt diagnosis and management. It continues to be challenging to anticipate who may be at risk of a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction. Anaphylaxis can be caused by a range of allergens, such as certain foods, medications, latex, insect stings, etc. Cofactors that augment the severity of clinical symptoms and increase the risk of poor outcomes include exercise, stress, infectious diseases, underlying mast cell disease, active allergic disease such as asthma, advanced age, intake of certain medications, history of previous anaphylaxis, and delayed or missed administration of adrenaline. According to the European Anaphylaxis Registry, food is the major elicitor of anaphylaxis, especially eggs, cow milk, and nuts, in children and adolescents. Reaction to insect venom has also been noted in young adulthood. Early recognition of signs and symptoms and prompt treatment are crucial in anaphylaxis management to avoid serious and even fatal outcomes. It is crucial for both individuals and clinicians to identify the cause of anaphylaxis. Biomarkers of anaphylaxis, such as histamine, tryptase, platelet activation factor (PAF), chymase, carboxypeptidase A3, dipeptidyl peptidase I (DPPI), basogranulin, CCL-2, hsa-miR-451a, may be useful in diagnosis and management. The purpose of this review article is to present a comprehensive overview of current evidence and expert opinions regarding the risk factors that predispose individuals to anaphylaxis. Additionally, it provides insights into potential biomarkers and genetic markers for accurate diagnosis and management. This review underscores the significance of expert guidance in enhancing patient outcomes and enabling self-management of anaphylactic episodes.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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