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.

Encouraging results from Circassia's ToleroMune ragweed allergy T-cell vaccine phase II clinical trial

Circassia Ltd, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on allergy, today announced that its ToleroMune(R) ragweed allergy T-cell vaccine achieved positive results in a recently completed phase II clinical trial. Ragweed allergy is particularly common in America, where it affects approximately 25% of the population. Circassia's latest clinical results follow two earlier successful phase II studies with the company's T-cell vaccine against cat allergy.

12 Feb 2010

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

A leading immunology research institute has validated the long-held and controversial hypothesis that antibodies - usually the "good guys" in the body's fight against viruses - instead contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology announced today. The finding has major implications for the development of a first-ever vaccine against dengue virus, a growing public health threat which annually infects 50 to 100 million people worldwide, causing a half million cases of the severest form.

12 Feb 2010

Parents often recognize signs of asthma in their children but delay home treatment: Report

Parents of young children with asthma often recognize signs that their child is about to have an asthma attack but delay home treatment until the attack occurs, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.

12 Feb 2010

Emory-UGA IPIRC to host symposium on H1N1 virus

The Emory - University of Georgia Influenza Pathogenesis and Immunology Research Center will host a symposium April 18 - 20 at the Emory Conference Center featuring an international roster of speakers.

11 Feb 2010

Alcon reports 2009 fourth quarter results

Alcon, Inc. reported that global sales rose 14.5 percent to $1.72 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009, or an 8.5 percent increase excluding the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations. Reported net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009 grew 8.0 percent to $458 million, or $1.51 per diluted share.

11 Feb 2010

Eczema in early childhood may influence behavior and mental health later in life

Eczema in early childhood may influence behavior and mental health later in life. This is a key finding of a prospective birth cohort study to which scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München contributed.

11 Feb 2010

Eczema can lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children

11 Feb 2010

Catalysis Foundation for Health to discover new TB biomarkers with $5M Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant

The Catalysis Foundation for Health (Catalysis), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit entity dedicated to developing sustainable diagnostics for the developing world, announced today that it has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant money will be used to discover new tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers that can be used to improve diagnostic tests and potentially develop more effective TB treatments.

10 Feb 2010

Trimel BioPharma Holdings updates business developments

Trimel BioPharma Holdings Inc. is today providing an update on a number of operational items that have contributed significantly to advancing the Company and achieving its initial objectives.

10 Feb 2010

GA²LEN and EAACI warn: Older antihistamines in OTC allergy medications may be hazardous

A joint GA²LEN /EAACI report to be published in "Allergy" and available online on 8 February reviews new data on the treatment of allergies with older antihistamines compared with newer, second-generation H1-antihistamines. The research was funded by GA²LEN, an EU-funded Network of Excellence.

10 Feb 2010

FDA approves Sagent Pharmaceuticals' labetalol HCl injection for severe hypertension

Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that it has received FDA approval of labetalol hydrochloride (HCl) injection, USP, commonly used to control severe hypertension. The product will be available in two vial sizes – 100 mg per 20 mL and 200 mg per 40 mL, multi-dose vials.

9 Feb 2010

Women using oestrogen-only HRT at increased risk of asthma after menopause

Oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may increase the risk of developing asthma after the menopause, suggests a large scale study published ahead of print in the journal Thorax.

7 Feb 2010

Emerson Ecologics officially launches Emerson Quality Program

Emerson Ecologics, LLC announces the official launch of the Emerson Quality Program(SM) (EQP) on their website, www.emersonecologics.com/quality. This one-of-a-kind quality assurance program for the nutritional supplements industry will showcase the quality practices of the industry's leading manufacturers.

5 Feb 2010

Strengthening NAAQS for ozone pollution would reduce premature death, asthma

Environmental Defense Fund testified today that strengthening the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone pollution from 75 to 60 parts per billion (ppb) would reduce premature death rates by 60-fold and reduce asthma cases 50-fold, according to analyses by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

5 Feb 2010

Early stage trial finds malaria vaccine effectively protected young children, study says

An experimental vaccine was found to effectively protect young children from malaria in Mali, Reuters reports. According to the news service, "The vaccine, which uses an immune system booster called an adjuvant from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, targets the malaria parasite as it is actively infecting red blood cells and causing fever and illness" (Steenhuysen, 2/3).

5 Feb 2010

Children exposed to acetaminophen prenatally more likely to have asthma symptoms at age five

Children who were exposed to acetaminophen prenatally were more likely to have asthma symptoms at age five in a study of 300 African-American and Dominican Republic children living in New York City.

5 Feb 2010

New study may allow scientists to develop screening test for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A simple blood test could predict which patients with the lung-scarring disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are soon to get far worse, an indicator that could one day influence their treatment, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

4 Feb 2010

Mandatory flu shot program increases vaccination rate to more than 98% in BJC HealthCare

Making flu shots mandatory in 2008 dramatically increased the vaccination rate among St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare's nearly 26,000 employees to more than 98 percent, according to a report now online in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

4 Feb 2010

UTMB: Mother's exposure to BPA increases risks of asthma in her children

For years, scientists have warned of the possible negative health effects of bisphenol A, a chemical used to make everything from plastic water bottles and food packaging to sunglasses and CDs.

4 Feb 2010

New vaccine to prevent malaria infection shown promise to protect young children

A new vaccine to prevent the deadly malaria infection has shown promise to protect the most vulnerable patients - young children - against the disease, according to an international team of researchers led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and the Malaria Research and Training Center at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa.

4 Feb 2010

Allergy News and Research

Further Reading

Encouraging results from Circassia's ToleroMune ragweed allergy T-cell vaccine phase II clinical trial

Antibodies also contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, confirms La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

Parents often recognize signs of asthma in their children but delay home treatment: Report

Emory-UGA IPIRC to host symposium on H1N1 virus

Alcon reports 2009 fourth quarter results

Eczema in early childhood may influence behavior and mental health later in life

Eczema can lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children

Catalysis Foundation for Health to discover new TB biomarkers with $5M Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant

Trimel BioPharma Holdings updates business developments

GA²LEN and EAACI warn: Older antihistamines in OTC allergy medications may be hazardous

FDA approves Sagent Pharmaceuticals' labetalol HCl injection for severe hypertension

Women using oestrogen-only HRT at increased risk of asthma after menopause

Emerson Ecologics officially launches Emerson Quality Program

Strengthening NAAQS for ozone pollution would reduce premature death, asthma

Early stage trial finds malaria vaccine effectively protected young children, study says

Children exposed to acetaminophen prenatally more likely to have asthma symptoms at age five

New study may allow scientists to develop screening test for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Mandatory flu shot program increases vaccination rate to more than 98% in BJC HealthCare

UTMB: Mother's exposure to BPA increases risks of asthma in her children

New vaccine to prevent malaria infection shown promise to protect young children

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