Publications by authors named "Vanthaya Gan"
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play essential roles in directing immune responses. These cells may be particularly important in determining the nature of immune responses to viral infections in patients with allergic asthma as well those with other atopic diseases. The purposes of this study were 1) to compare the functional capacity of pDCs in patients with one type of allergic disorder, allergic asthma, and controls; 2) to determine whether IgE cross-linking affects antiviral responses of influenza-exposed pDCs; and 3) to determine whether evidence of counterregulation of FcepsilonRIalpha and IFN-alpha pathways exists in these cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is an association between adiposity and asthma prevalence, but the relationship to asthma control is unclear.
Objectives: We sought to understand the relationships among adiposity, sex, and asthma control in inner-city adolescents with asthma.
Methods: We prospectively followed 368 adolescents with moderate-to-severe asthma (ages 12-20 years) living in 10 urban areas for 1 year.
Background: Depression is common in caregivers of children with asthma and is associated with increased emergency service utilization for the child's asthma.
Objective: This pilot study examined the impact of antidepressant treatment of depressed caregivers on the caregiver's depression and the child's asthma.
Method: Eight depressed caregivers of children with asthma were given up to 6 months of algorithm-based antidepressant therapy.
Objective: The prevalence of asthma and asthma-related mortality has increased in recent years. Data suggest an association between psychiatric symptoms in the caregiver and asthma-related hospitalizations in the child. We examined the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and disorders and their relationship to asthma-related service utilization in caregivers of children hospitalized for asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite increasing awareness of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines, the relative contribution of symptom frequency or pulmonary function to the recommended asthma severity levels remains poorly understood.
Objective: To determine whether adding lung function measurements to clinical history substantially changes the asthma severity classification, thereby influencing treatment decisions.
Design: Baseline data were studied from children enrolled in 2 multicenter studies: phase 1 of the National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study (1992-1994) (cohort 1) and the Inner-City Asthma Study (1998-2001) (cohort 2).
Background: Studies suggest that the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) reduces carriage of vaccine-type (VT) Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP). We studied the effect of PCV7 on carriage of VT- and non-VT (NVT) SP, by studying the effect of PCV7 on nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization by VT and NVT SP during early childhood.
Methods: At 2 months of age, 278 infants were enrolled in this study.
Background: Asthma and allergies are commonly undiagnosed in children. Schools provide settings for potentially accessing almost all children for asthma and allergy screening.
Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and validity of using a questionnaire-based screening tool to identify undiagnosed asthma and respiratory allergies in children in kindergarten to grade 6.
Background: A questionnaire alone may not be an adequate screening tool for asthma.
Objective: To determine whether an asthma questionnaire used in combination with an exercise step test is better than a questionnaire alone in screening for asthma in children and to evaluate the validity of a rhinitis questionnaire in determining atopy.
Methods: The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) asthma core questionnaire was used to screen for asthma in 307 inner-city first through third graders.