The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Feb 2000
Comparative StudySurvey of patients after discontinuing venom immunotherapy.
Venom immunotherapy rapidly reduces the risk of a systemic sting reaction in adults from 30% to 70% to less than 2%. When venom immunotherapy is stopped after 5 years or longer, the risk of a systemic sting reaction is 5% to 15% during the first few years after stopping treatment. It is uncertain whether systemic sting reactions will occur more than 5 years after discontinuing venom immunotherapy and whether treatment can be safely stopped in some patients after less than 5 years. ⋯ We conclude that the risk of systemic sting reactions when venom immunotherapy is stopped after 5 years or longer remains in the reported range of 5% to 15% in the 5 to 10 years after stopping venom immunotherapy. This risk of systemic sting reactions does not seem to decrease over time, unlike the progressive decline in immunologic markers (skin test and venom-IgE responses). To prospectively assess the risk of recurrent systemic sting reactions, there is a need for sting challenge studies of patients who have been off venom immunotherapy for 5 to 10 years and patients who have stopped venom immunotherapy after just 3 to 4 years treatment.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Feb 2000
Evaluation of a short form for measuring health-related quality of life among pediatric asthma patients.
This study was undertaken to derive and validate a short form parent-completed questionnaire to measure health-related quality of life (HRQL) in pediatric asthma patients. ⋯ This study documents the development of a brief, multidimensional, 8-item questionnaire for measuring HRQL in pediatric asthma patients. The brevity of the questionnaire makes it practical for use in practice settings and to monitor patients.