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.

Novel HIV vaccine set for clinical development

A promising new HIV vaccine created at The Wistar Institute has received funding for clinical development aimed at moving the vaccine into human clinical trials as soon as possible.

3 Sep 2007

Cell that triggers symptoms in allergy attacks can also limit damage

A blood cell known as a troublemaker for triggering the itch and inflammation in allergy attacks, the mast cell, can also calm down the flare-ups, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have found.

3 Sep 2007

New guidelines for childhood asthma recommend inhaled corticosteroids

New guidelines aimed at dealing with asthma have been released by government health experts in the United States.

30 Aug 2007

Lipid offers new ways of treating inflammatory kidney diseases

Scientists report in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Lipid Research that a lipid known to protect the heart from inflammation and to cause skin allergic reactions also reduces inflammation of the kidneys.

29 Aug 2007

Limited human-to-human spread of Avian-flu virus in Indonesia in 2006 confirmed

In the first systematic, statistical analysis of its kind, infectious-disease-modeling experts at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center confirm that the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in 2006 spread between a small number of people within a family in Indonesia.

28 Aug 2007

Cannabis for allergic contact dermatitis

Administering a substance found in the cannabis plant can help the body's natural protective system alleviate an allergic skin disease (allergic contact dermatitis), an international group of researchers from Germany, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the U.S. has found.

17 Aug 2007

New understanding of how HSV-1 attacks cells

A team of University of Kentucky researchers has identified the roles that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) proteins play during the invasion of cells and the formation of skin lesions known as cold sores and fever blisters.

17 Aug 2007

New food allergy law in New York

The Food Allergy Initiative (FAI) has announced that Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed into law the Allergy & Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2007 (AAMA; A.4051), landmark legislation that will help protect New York schoolchildren who suffer from life-threatening food allergies.

17 Aug 2007

Baxter awarded major contract for flu vaccine in the event of a pandemic

Baxter International Inc. has announced that Baxter's European subsidiary in the United Kingdom has entered into an advanced supply agreement with the Department of Health that contains an option to purchase pandemic influenza vaccine in the event the World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic.

From Baxter International Inc. 17 Aug 2007

New techniques for measuring blood volume

The July issue of The American Journal of Medical Sciences presents a special symposium on the measurement and clinical implications of blood volume and its measurement.

16 Aug 2007

Diovan (valsartan) granted pediatric exclusivity by FDA

Diovan (valsartan) has been granted pediatric exclusivity by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) based on studies conducted in children with high blood pressure.

13 Aug 2007

Cashew nut allergy more severe in children than peanut allergy

Researchers in Britain say peanut allergies may be more infamous but cashews seem to trigger more severe allergic reactions in children.

13 Aug 2007

Scientists prepare for future pandemic strains of H5N1

Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine.

11 Aug 2007

Bcl-3 protein regulates inflammation by blocking ubiquitination

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine recently identified how a regulatory protein called Bcl-3 helps to control the body's inflammation response to infection by interfering a critical biochemical process called ubiquitination.

8 Aug 2007