Allergy News and Research

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The term allergy encompasses a wide range of conditions; it is not a disease in itself. In 1906 Clemens von Pirquet was the first to describe allergies as a changed or altered reaction of the immune system in response to exposure to foreign proteins. These days the term allergy – medically termed hypersensitivity, signifies an exaggerated reaction to foreign substances.

More aggressive treatment of childhood eczema could help prevent asthma

More aggressive treatment of childhood eczema may be an important step in preventing asthma, says a new Australian study.

6 Jul 2008

Asthma risk increases in children treated for HIV

Children whose immune systems rebound after treatment with potent anti-viral drugs for HIV infection face an increased risk of developing asthma, said a federally funded consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

1 Jul 2008

Australian scientists discover reason for extreme allergic reactions

Australian scientists believe they have discovered why some people experience extreme allergic reactions and their find could lead to new treatments for what seems to be an increasingly common problem.

1 Jul 2008

Zinc finger technology brings personalized HIV therapy a step closer

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and collaborators are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans.

30 Jun 2008

NIAID announces grants to stimulate food allergy research

Twelve investigators have received grants totaling $5 million over two years to lead high-impact, innovative studies of food allergy, a significant public health concern.

30 Jun 2008

New approach to HIV vaccine research taps Rochester expertise

A new national effort to create a vaccine against HIV will include work by a University of Rochester Medical Center rheumatologist who is an expert on a portion of the immune system that has sometimes gotten short shrift in the fight against HIV.

30 Jun 2008

Penn researchers propose major changes to informed consent for transplantation

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine physicians and bioethicists are calling for a new, more standardized way for patients in need of organ transplants to be informed of the risks they face. If adopted, their policy recommendations could promote greater equity in how organs are allocated while restricting patients' abilities to "cherry-pick" the best organs.

26 Jun 2008

NIAID creates HIV vaccine discovery branch

To accelerate the translation of basic discoveries about HIV into advances in vaccine design and evaluation, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has formed a new Vaccine Discovery Branch within the Vaccine Research Program in the Division of AIDS (DAIDS).

25 Jun 2008

Treating genital herpes does not reduce eisk of HIV

Treating genital herpes does not reduce the risk of HIV, according to a study published on Friday in the journal Lancet, the AP/Newsweek reports (Cheng, AP/Newsweek, 6/19). Herpes simplex virus-2 has been shown to increase the risk of HIV by as much as threefold, so the researchers examined whether treating HSV-2 might reduce the risk of HIV, Bloomberg reports.

24 Jun 2008

FDA approves Kinrix - combination vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio diseases in one shot

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Kinrix [Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine], the first combination vaccine to offer protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio diseases in one shot.

24 Jun 2008

Genetic mutation and cat exposure at birth may increase a child's risk of developing eczema

A gene mutation and cat exposure at birth may increase a child's risk of developing eczema during their first year according to a study published in PLoS Medicine. Researchers led by Professor Hans Bisgaard (University Hospital Gentofte, Copenhagen, Denmark) studied the association between mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG) and exposure to environmental factors with the development of eczema.

24 Jun 2008

Discovery of possible new way to block inflammation in autoimmune disease

Researchers from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have identified a promising new target for autoimmune disease treatment - a cell-surface receptor called DR3.

23 Jun 2008

Link between soy milk and peanut allergies dispelled

The suspicion that drinking soy milk or soy-based formula is a factor in children developing a peanut allergy has been dispelled by Australian scientists.

19 Jun 2008

World Allergy report calls for urgent worldwide collaboration to tackle global increase in allergies

The World Allergy Organization (WAO) will publish its first Report on the extent of allergy and chronic respiratory diseases worldwide on the 18 June 2008 and has called for immediate collaboration to tackle the current escalation in allergy cases.

17 Jun 2008

Death rate linked to comtaminated heparin almost doubles

The drug watchdog in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have updated the number of deaths in patients who took the drug heparin.

17 Jun 2008

Traffic pollution linked to childhood allergies

New research from Germany has found a link between traffic pollution and childhood allergies.

16 Jun 2008

Evolution may have lumbered humans with allergy problems

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered how evolution may have lumbered humans with allergy problems.

15 Jun 2008

AHF to Dr. Fauci and the CDC: "show us the AIDS numbers"

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is calling for the immediate release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) latest HIV incidence numbers, after Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) referred to them while in attendance at the United Nations' 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York this week. The US largest AIDS organization and operator of free AIDS treatment clinics in the U.S., Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, also called for massive scale-up of HIV testing throughout the nation.

11 Jun 2008

U.N. Secretary-General calls for end of discrimination against, travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the U.N. 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS on Tuesday called on the international community to end discrimination against HIV-positive people, including travel restrictions, describing such practices as "an affront to our common humanity," Xinhuanet reports.

11 Jun 2008

Specific immune therapy works for many people with allergies

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care has assessed recent evidence on allergies. It found that the once controversial immune therapy against allergy symptoms can definitely help many people with allergies.

11 Jun 2008