Publications by authors named "Elissa M Abrams"

The art of clinical negotiation is an important, yet underappreciated aspect of medicine. Key components of negotiation include the need to consider principles over personalities, to explore all options before deciding on the best course, to realize if consensus cannot be achieved then compromise may still be possible, to work from evidence to incorporate contextual factors, and to stay evidence based. These principles can be helpful in many settings, including contract negotiation, drug pricing, and research.

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Food allergy typically begins early in life and persists as a lifelong condition. Delayed introduction of allergenic foods followed by years of hesitancy to introduce these foods early may have contributed to the increase in food allergy prevalence in recent decades. Most infant feeding guidelines focus on the importance of early introduction of allergenic foods in infants at around age 4-6 months.

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Anaphylaxis is an acute, potentially fatal systemic hypersensitivity reaction with varied mechanisms and clinical presentations. Although prompt recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis are imperative, both patients and healthcare professionals often fail to recognize and diagnose its early signs. Clinical manifestations vary widely, however, the most common signs are cutaneous symptoms, including urticaria and angioedema.

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Article Synopsis
  • The objective is to help family physicians effectively discuss RSV immunizations with their patients.
  • There are three preventive options for severe RSV disease in infants: palivizumab for high-risk infants, nirsevimab for all infants, and the RSVpreF vaccine for pregnant individuals.
  • Family doctors need to understand each immunization option's specifics, including recommendations and patient considerations, to support informed choices for parents and infants.
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This position statement addresses the critical concerns and recommended practices surrounding the use of panel food testing for diagnosing food allergies. Food allergies are a significant public health concern, and the misdiagnosis of food allergies remains a prevalent concern, made worse by the ongoing use of panel food testing. The practice of screening patients for multiple food allergens, regardless of clinical relevance, is commonly referred to as "panel food testing.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The article discusses how individuals with food allergies have limited "food freedom," leading to various challenges including cognitive, emotional, social, nutritional, and financial impacts.
  • - It suggests that avoiding certain foods can affect gut health and potentially contribute to neuroinflammatory issues, impacting mental health.
  • - The use of psychological counseling is highlighted as a helpful approach, while also noting that strict dietary restrictions might hinder overall dietary health benefits.
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Clinical teams are at the heart of healthcare value. Teamwork requires an appreciation of the unique geniuses of each team member as well as an understanding of team dynamics and larger organizational challenges. Effective teams leverage each member's unique talents within a culture of shared humility, service, and dedication.

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Article Synopsis
  • Limited decision-support tools are available for shared decision-making (SDM) about food oral immunotherapy (OIT), prompting the creation of a new pediatric decision-aid tool covering various foods, forms, and ages.
  • The tool was developed through an iterative process involving expert feedback and assessment measures, resulting in a user-friendly, 4-page aid that helps caregivers understand therapy options, risks, and benefits.
  • Evaluation showed that the decision-aid was well-received by 135 caregivers, reporting high confidence in their choices and low uncertainty, indicating its effectiveness in supporting SDM for OIT initiation.
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Background: Previous guidelines recommend prompt epinephrine administration, followed by observation in the emergency department (ED). The need for transfer in all cases of anaphylaxis has recently been challenged.

Objective: To evaluate the need for additional ED treatment among children with anaphylaxis who received prehospital epinephrine.

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Food allergy prevention has undergone a significant transformation over the past 3 decades. This review provides an overview of the evolution of food allergy prevention, highlighting changes in guidance, cost-effectiveness of prevention, the role of shared decision-making, and the emergence of oral immunotherapy for those in whom primary prevention fails. Changes to food allergy prevention over recent decades can be conceptualized into five epochs, which have followed a general trend of loosening restrictions on the allergen introduction timeline.

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Food allergy is common and has increased in prevalence over time. Although there are many types of reactions to foods, immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated food allergy is acute in onset and resolves quickly, and is reproducible in nature. Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of IgE-mediated food allergy and has a range of clinical manifestations.

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For clinicians involved in improving healthcare for patients with allergic and immunologic conditions, advocacy on a broader level through public outreach is key to advancing value-based care. In this article, we provide a toolkit of strategies and resources that can be used to raise public awareness of important issues through various mediums, including podcasts and social media, newspapers, testimonies, presentations, and interviews. A simple approach to effective media interactions is described using the acronym "RATIO," which stands for Research, Audience, Targeted topic, Interview rephrasing, and Optimism.

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Introduction: Compared to households not managing food allergy, households managing food allergy are faced with greater direct and indirect costs. To address these cost burdens, we developed and piloted a milk allergy-friendly food supplement program for lower- and middle-income households managing a dairy allergy in a child age <6 years. Herein, we aimed to evaluate to the impact of this program on food costs, food security, and caregiver mental health using a longitudinal design.

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Background: Omalizumab is an anti-IgE therapy newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration for allergen agnostic treatment of single or multiple food allergies in patients aged 1 year or older.

Objective: Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of omalizumab as a food allergy treatment.

Methods: We evaluated health and economic outcomes in Markov cohorts of simulated food allergic infants randomized to receive omalizumab using a 15-year horizon.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Neuropsychiatric symptoms are frequently seen in individuals with allergic diseases, with factors like neuroinflammation and social implications potentially explaining this connection.
  • - The review explores how mental health relates to various allergic conditions, including allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, and food allergies, but highlights that more research is needed, especially regarding how medications affect these interconnections.
  • - Clinicians are encouraged to proactively screen for mental health issues using tools like the Patient Health Questionnaire, as these can help identify patients needing psychiatric support, though they should be cautious of the limitations of these screening tools.
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  • - Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody used to treat conditions like asthma and atopic dermatitis, but its use in clinical trials led to recommendations against live vaccines due to safety concerns.
  • - Recent systematic reviews and an expert panel concluded that live vaccines are generally safe for patients on dupilumab and that the effectiveness of vaccines is not compromised.
  • - It is advisable for clinicians and patients to engage in shared decision-making regarding the administration of vaccines to those receiving dupilumab.
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Observational studies and landmark randomized control trials support early and sustained allergenic food introduction in infancy as an effective preventive strategy against food allergy development. Despite a consensus regarding the intended goals of early and sustained allergenic food introduction, there have been myriad policy recommendations among health authorities in how to achieve both individual and population-level health outcomes for food allergy prevention. This clinical management review provides an overview on the data that informs early and sustained allergenic food introduction strategies, suggestions on how to advise allergenic food introduction, principles of prevention programs as they relate to food allergy prevention, and health promotion and systems-level challenges that impede achievement of food allergy prevention goals.

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