The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Dec 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialCan a school-based hand hygiene program reduce asthma exacerbations among elementary school children?
Viral upper respiratory tract infections have been implicated as a major cause of asthma exacerbations among school-aged children. Regular hand washing is the most effective method to prevent the spread of viral respiratory tract infections, but effective hand-washing practices are difficult to establish in schools. ⋯ Although the intervention was not found to be effective, the results were confounded by the H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in substantially increased hand hygiene behaviors and resources in usual-care schools. Therefore these results should be viewed cautiously.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Nov 2012
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyEfficacy of subcutaneous and sublingual immunotherapy with grass allergens for seasonal allergic rhinitis: a meta-analysis-based comparison.
Subcutaneous (SCIT) and sublingual (SLIT) immunotherapy are the 2 most prescribed routes for administering allergen-specific immunotherapy. They were shown to be effective in control of symptoms and in reducing rescue medication use in patients with allergic diseases, but their effectiveness has to be balanced against side effects. In recent years, SLIT has been increasingly prescribed, instead of SCIT, because of improved safety and easy administration. ⋯ Our results provide indirect but solid evidence that SCIT is more effective than SLIT in controlling symptoms and in reducing the use of antiallergic medications in seasonal allergic rhinoconjuntivitis to grass pollen.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Nov 2012
Letter Randomized Controlled TrialEarly probiotic supplementation for allergy prevention: long-term outcomes.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Nov 2012
Responsiveness to respiratory syncytial virus in neonates is mediated through thymic stromal lymphopoietin and OX40 ligand.
Recent studies revealed a critical role for thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) released from epithelial cells and OX40 ligand (OX40L) expressed on dendritic cells (DCs) in T(H)2 priming and polarization. ⋯ In mice initially infected as neonates, TSLP expression induced by RSV infection is an important upstream event that controls OX40L expression, lung DC migration, and T(H)2 polarization, accounting for the enhanced response on reinfection.
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J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. · Oct 2012
Corticosteroid insensitivity of chemokine expression in airway smooth muscle of patients with severe asthma.
Patients with severe asthma are less responsive to the beneficial effects of corticosteroid therapy. ⋯ ASMCs of patients with severe asthma are corticosteroid insensitive; this might be secondary to heightened p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase levels.