The holiday season often brings with it a reflection of the past year. Its highs, its lows, the challenges that we may have encountered and our hopes for the impending new year. Here Allergy Advocacy Association co-founder Jon Terry reflects upon this past year and offers his best wishes for a “normal” new year.
By Jon Terry December 6th, 2021
Greetings. As the holiday season begins, I sincerely hope you and your families are healthy and safe.
“Mom? What is…NORMAL?” “It’s just a setting on the clothes dryer, honey.”
Looking back upon 2021, here in New York State I kept hoping and praying for a return to "NORMAL." I mean “NORMAL” from my own very personal perspective; of course, everyone has their own point of view and certainly yours will be a lot different from mine. Day after day, however, I didn't see much of anything resembling "NORMAL" happening all around me.
Just like everyone else the pandemic has changed so many different parts of my life:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Despite the rise in incidence, the use of epinephrine — the treatment of choice for anaphylaxis and the only drug known to halt its progression — remains at suboptimal levels.
Data from 20 studies show that following anaphylaxis from any cause, epinephrine was administered in as little as 1.4% of instances that subsequently required response from emergency medical services personnel and hospitalization.
Although another analysis of five US studies indicated a higher rate of 26.4%, the better rate still means “that only a quarter of anaphylaxis cases showing up to the emergency department [ED] were treated with epinephrine before EMS attention,” according to Wang.
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.
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)
Magician Alan Hudson Headlines Action Awards Virtual Celebration
“Pick a card, any card”
A talented magician amazes their audience by performing feats that leave them asking “how did they do that?” Now, imagine a magician that leaves the audience amazed, while he interacts with them virtually. They’re astonished, looking at their computer screens, all the while still asking “how did they do that?” That talented magician, in fact he’s been on Britain’s Got Talent, is Alan Hudson. World renowned, one of the UK’s top professional magicians. Alan will bring his many talents to our annual Allergy Action Awards Virtual Awards on October 20th.
September 20th, 2021
Regarding our annual Action Awards Celebration, the Allergy Advocacy Association is delighted to present magician and comedian Alan Hudson as our special guest entertainer for the evening. He will be appearing on our virtual ZOOM broadcast on Wednesday, October 20th at 7pm.
Alan Hudson is one of the UK’s top professional magicians specializing in virtual magic shows online, close up magic and stand-up comedy magic.
Alan is one of Britain’s leading conjurors and highly regarded as one of the top magicians in the UK. He’s a Member of The Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star (less than 250 worldwide) and in 2019 they awarded him The Carlton Comedy Award for outstanding comedy in magic. He’s been on Britain’s Got Talent, ITV’s The Next Great Magician and on ITV’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us.
