Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is a potentially disease-modifying therapy that is effective for the treatment of allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis, allergic asthma and stinging insect hypersensitivity. The decision to proceed with AIT should be made on a case-by-case basis, based on a comprehensive evaluation of the patient, allergy testing and a thorough discussion with the patient about treatment goals, risks vs. benefits, and long-term commitment to the treatment plan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: About 10% of patients have a penicillin allergy label, but less than 5% of them are actually allergic. Unnecessary penicillin avoidance is associated with serious medical consequences. Given the growing number of these labels, it is imperative that our diagnostic strategy for penicillin allergy be as efficient as possible.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Limited data are available on the clinical profile and disease burden of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in Canadians.
Objective: This study aimed to assess HAE disease characteristics and the burden of disease in Canadians with HAE types I, II, and normal levels of C1 inhibitor (nC1-INH).
Materials And Methods: A 46-item patient survey evaluating clinical characteristics and burden of disease was developed and disseminated by the HAE patient organization in Quebec, Canada, from May 2019 to February 2020.
Chronic urticaria (CU) is the recurring development of wheals (aka "hives" or "welts"), angioedema, or both for more than 6 weeks. Wheals and angioedema occur with no definite triggers in chronic spontaneous urticaria, and in response to known and definite physical triggers in chronic inducible urticaria. Approximately 1.
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