Background: Research demonstrates significant health care cost savings conferred by allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) to US children with allergic rhinitis (AR).Objective: We sought to examine whether AIT-related cost benefits conferred to US children with AR similarly extend to adults.Methods: A retrospective (1997-2009) Florida Medicaid claims analysis compared mean 18-month health care costs of patients with newly diagnosed AR who received de novo AIT and were continuously enrolled for 18 months or more versus matched control subjects not receiving AIT. Analyses were conducted for the total sample and separately for adults (age ≥18 years) and children (age <18 years).Results: Matched were 4,967 patients receiving AIT (1,319 adults and 3,648 children) and 19,278 control subjects (4,815 adults and 14,463 children). AIT-treated enrollees incurred 38% ($6,637 vs $10,644, P < .0001) lower mean 18-month total health care costs than matched control subjects, with significant savings observed within 3 months of AIT initiation. Compared with control subjects, significantly lower 18-month mean health care costs were demonstrated overall (38%; $6,637 for patients receiving AIT vs $10,644 for control subjects, P < .0001), and for both AIT-treated adults (30%; $10,457 AIT vs $14,854 controls, P < .0001) and children (42%; $5,253 AIT vs $9,118 controls, P < .0001). The magnitude of 18-month health care cost savings realized by AIT-treated adults and children did not significantly differ ($4,397 vs $3,965, P = .435).Conclusions: Patients with newly diagnosed AR initiating AIT incurred significantly lower health care costs than matched control subjects beginning 3 months after AIT initiation and continuing throughout the 18-month follow-up period. The significant cost benefits achieved by children with AR diagnoses who initiated AIT were also observed for adults with AR diagnoses who initiated AIT.

Background: Risk factors for increased anaphylaxis severity are poorly understood. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been associated with severe anaphylactic reactions in patients with hymenoptera venom allergy. Studies evaluating the association between beta-blockers and severe anaphylaxis have been conflicting.Objective: To evaluate the association between antihypertensive medication use and increased anaphylaxis severity.Methods: We included emergency department anaphylaxis patients aged 18 years and older. Markers of severe anaphylaxis were defined as (1) syncope, hypotension, or hypoxia; (2) signs and symptoms involving 3 or more organ systems; and (3) hospitalization. Antihypertensive medications evaluated included beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers, and diuretics. Simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the association between antihypertensive medication use and markers of increased anaphylaxis severity.Results: Among 302 patients with anaphylaxis, 55 (18%) had syncope, hypoxia, or hypotension, 57 (19%) required hospitalization, and 139 (46%) had 3 or more organ system involvement. After adjusting for age, gender, suspected trigger, and preexisting lung disease, beta-blocker, ACE-inhibitor, diuretic, or antihypertensive medication use in aggregate remained associated with both 3 or more organ system involvement and need for hospital admission. The adjusted associations between antihypertensive medication use in aggregate and 3 or more organ system involvement yielded an odds ratio of 2.8 (95% CI, 1.5-5.2; P = .0008) and with hospitalization an odds ratio of 4.0 (95% CI, 1.9-8.4; P = .0001).Conclusions: In emergency department anaphylaxis patients, antihypertensive medication use is associated with increased organ system involvement and increased odds of hospital admission, independent of age, gender, suspected trigger, or preexisting lung disease.

We congratulate the EVE Consortium, which has brought new knowledge to the understanding of asthma. However, asthma should be considered a syndrome or at least a disease with different phenotypes. Genome-wide association studies should be conducted in this context. An association between a genetic risk factor and a particular disease phenotype might not appear when one addresses the population of all asthmatic patients.

Background: Epidemiological evidence has shown that pediatric food allergy is more prevalent in regions further from the equator, suggesting that vitamin D insufficiency may play a role in this disease.Objective: To investigate the role of vitamin D status in infantile food allergy.Methods: A population sample of 5276 one-year-old infants underwent skin prick testing to peanut, egg, sesame, and cow’s milk or shrimp. All those with a detectable wheal and a random sample of participants with negative skin prick test results attended a hospital-based food challenge clinic. Blood samples were available for 577 infants (344 with challenge-proven food allergy, 74 sensitized but tolerant to food challenge, 159 negative on skin prick test and food challenge). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured by using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and food allergy were examined by using multiple logistic regression, adjusting for potential risk and confounding factors.Results: Infants of Australian-born parents, but not of parents born overseas, with vitamin D insufficiency (≤50 nmol/L) were more likely to be peanut (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 11.51; 95% CI, 2.01-65.79; P = .006) and/or egg (aOR, 3.79; 95% CI, 1.19-12.08; P = .025) allergic than were those with adequate vitamin D levels independent of eczema status. Among those with Australian-born parents, infants with vitamin D insufficiency were more likely to have multiple food allergies (≥2) rather than a single food allergy (aOR, 10.48; 95% CI, 1.60-68.61 vs aOR, 1.82; 95% CI, 0.38-8.77, respectively).Conclusions: These results provide the first direct evidence that vitamin D sufficiency may be an important protective factor for food allergy in the first year of life.