Latex allergy: Position Paper.

Correct management of latex allergy is essential to ensure adequate care of patients who are allergic to latex, which is ubiquitous in the health care setting. In this Position Paper, the Latex Committee of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology provides guidelines for the management of latex allergy.

Allergy workup in immediate-type local reactions to glatiramer acetate.

Local reactions to glatiramer acetate are common, but few cases of hypersensitivity reaction have been reported. We present 3 patients with multiple sclerosis who suffered immediate-type local reactions after subcutaneous injection of glatiramer acetate. Skin prick test (SPT), intradermal test (IDT), and determination of immunoglobulin (Ig) E to glatiramer acetate were performed in patients and controls (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).

Immunotherapy with a Phleum pratense allergen extract induces an immune response to a grass-mix allergen extract.

Background: Grass pollen allergy is one of the most common allergies worldwide, and patients often show sensitization to an array of phylogenetically related species.

Objective: To determine the effect of specific immunotherapy (SIT) with Phleum pratense extract on induction of the immune response to a mixture composed of 5 grass pollen extracts.

Methods: Forty-six adult patients suffering from rhinitis and sensitized to a mix of grass pollen allergen extracts were randomized 3:1 to receive a short course of SIT with P.

Urticaria caused by antihistamines: report of 5 cases.

Antihistamines are widely used drugs. Hypersensitivity reactions with these drugs are rare and a challenge for the physician. We describe 5 outpatients who experienced urticaria after taking antihistamines.

Interrelationship between skin sensitization, rhinitis, and asthma in patients with allergic rhinitis: a study of Spain and Portugal.

Objective: Allergic rhinitis can determine the presence and type of asthma. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the link between allergic rhinitis, asthma, and skin test sensitization in patients with allergic rhinitis.

Methods: Patients with allergic rhinitis, aged 10 to 50 years, were consecutively enrolled at different allergy centers in Spain and Portugal.

Reproducibility of delayed-type reactions to betalactams.

Background: Delayed reactions with betalactam antibiotics are a very common reason for consultation and a matter of numerous publications.

Objective: To demonstrate that delayed reactions occurring during treatment with betalactam antibiotics are not reproduced in a high percentage of the patients, when making drug challenge. To analyse the characteristics of people showing this type of reaction.

[Tolerance to celecoxib and meloxicam in patients with intolerance to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs].

Introduction: Hypersensitive reactions to analgesics in the general population are less than 1%. Previous studies have demonstrated that cyclooxigenase 2 (COX-2) inhibitors are an efficient alternative in patients with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) intolerance. The aim of our study is to test the tolerance to celecoxib and meloxicam in patients with NSAIDs intolerance, upto dosages higher than those used in previous studies.

Eosinophil cationic protein in feces: reference values in healthy and atopic individuals and patients with digestive diseases.

Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is a good indicator of eosinophilic activity and turnover, serving as a marker of activity in allergic and gastrointestinal diseases characterized by predominantly eosinophilic tissue infiltration. Our aim was to compare ECP levels infeces from healthy individuals, atopic patients, and patients with digestive diseases and establish reference values for this clinical setting. Thirty-nine healthy adults, 28 atopic patients, and 14 patients with digestive diseases were enrolled.

[Anaphylaxis after carrying out prick tests].

The skin prick test (SPT) is a simple and fast method used routinely in allergology practice. Systemic reactions have been described with this technique on few occasions. We are presenting a case of anaphylaxis with hemodynamic consequences after carrying out skin prick test with a cat dander extract.

Iberian study of aeroallergens sensitisation in allergic rhinitis.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a prevalent allergic disease in Iberian countries, but there are no recent epidemiological studies that characterize this pathology according to clinical classification and aeroallergens sensitisation. This is a clinical study, representative of each country

Methods: Descriptive, observational cross-sectional, population-based study carried-out in Portugal and Spain. 3397 consecutive patients (5 regions in Spain and 3 regions in Portugal) were selected for clinical observation and skin prick tests were carried out using the same panel of standardized aeroallergens.

Fixed exanthema from systemic tobramycin.

Eye drops contain several ophthalmic medications which can produce allergic reactions. We report the case of a patient with contact dermatitis from neomycin and a probable fixed exanthema after parenteral administration of tobramycin who tolerated topical tobramycin and other aminoglycosides.

Hypersensitivity reactions to metronidazole.

Background: Hypersensitivity reactions to metronidazole are infrequently described. However, we believe that such reactions are increasing due to growing use of the drug for the treatment of amebiasis and anaerobe infections combined with other antibiotics. The present study assesses the need for oral provocation in patients with probable hypersensitivity reactions to metronidazole.

Occupational asthma due to acrylates in a graphic arts worker.

Background: Acrylates are used in a wide variety of products such as solvents, adhesives, paints, printing ink, soft contact lenses, porcelain nails, and methacrylates (used by dentists and orthopedists). Currently there are various types of acrylic compounds: acrylates, cyanoacrylates (such as tissue adhesives and home glues), and methacrylates (prostheses and dental and orthopedic fillings). The sensitization mechanism is unknown, but the allergy is believed to be due to a non-IgE mediated phenomenon, since a late asthmatic response occurs.

[Induction of tolerance in hypersensitivity to mesalazine (5-ASA)].

Mesalazine is a derivative of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), which is useful in the treatment of intestinal inflammatory disease. Sulfasalazine is formed by two parts, sulfapyridine and 5-ASA, the latter being the active part of the molecule. The new preparatives derived from 5-ASA were developed in an attempt to avoid the traditionally associated side effects to sulfapyridine, although they are still observed and new effects appear.

Rupatadine 10 mg and cetirizine 10 mg in seasonal allergic rhinitis: a randomised, double-blind parallel study.

This randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, multicentre clinical trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of rupatadine, a new antihistamine with antiplatelet-activating factor (PAF) activity, and cetirizine in the treatment of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR). A total 249 patients were randomised to receive rupatadine 10 mg once daily (127 patients) or cetirizine 10 mg (122 patients) for two weeks. The main efficacy variable was the mean total daily symptom score (mTDSS) and was based on the daily subjective assessment of the severity of each rhinitis symptom--nasal (runny nose, sneezing, nasal itching and nasal obstruction) and non-nasal (conjunctival itching, tearing, and pharyngeal itching)--recorded by patients in their diaries.

Epidemiology of urticaria in Spain.

Background: In spite of the frequency of chronic urticaria there are very few epidemiological studies of its prevalence and distribution.

Objective: We wanted to approach the real prevalence of chronic urticaria in a population-based study and to depict demographic distribution and personal perception of the disease. We also wanted to describe the frequency of acute urticaria episodes in the population studied.

IgE binding to pepsin-digested water soluble and insoluble wheat proteins.

Background: Positive skin prick tests to wheat are a common finding among atopic patients, but only a minor fraction of these patients show immediate clinical symptoms after wheat ingestion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the allergenicity of wheat proteins after pepsin treatments.

Methods: Six patients with positive specific IgE and/or skin prick test to soluble wheat proteins and to gluten were studied.

Tolerance and short-term effect of a cluster schedule with pollen-extracts quantified in mass-units.

We performed a prospective, multicenter study to assess the tolerance and possible short-term effects of allergen vaccines administered according to a cluster schedule in the months immediately preceding the onset of the pollen season. The study was carried out in eight centers and included 191 patients (children and adults) with allergic respiratory disease due to sensitization to olive tree and/or grass pollen. Of these, 34 patients acted as controls and the remaining patients received immunotherapy administered in the initiation phase according to a cluster schedule of eight doses injected on four visits.

Fluorocytometric analysis of induced sputum cells in an asthmatic population.

Background: Bronchial mucosal inflammation is the major pathogenic process in asthma. In the latest years, induced sputum (IS) examination has become an important non-invasive method of assessing airway inflammation. Flow cytometry has been recently applied to the study of IS though it is not exempt of methodological difficulties.