Allergies News and Research

Latest Allergies News and Research

RMEI, PIM sponsor continuing education monograph on hereditary angioedema

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare but serious condition that can be both challenging to diagnose and to treat. To overcome these obstacles, healthcare professionals who encounter patients with HAE must be aware of the most up-to-date information regarding diagnosis and treatment of this potentially life-threatening condition.

15 Oct 2010

Food allergies are becoming more common in U.S. children

The scary reality is that food allergies are becoming more and more common in the United States. In the last 10 years there has been an 18 percent increase in children with food allergies. In fact, one in 22 children has a food allergy. That means most likely there is at least one child in each classroom with a food allergy. Halloween parties and trick or treating are just a few of the end of fall activities that can heighten the danger for kids with food allergies.

13 Oct 2010

$1.5 million DOD award allows U-M scientists to pursue new application for nanoemulsion technology

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $1.5 million over three years to the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences and to Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corporation to develop and test nanoemulsions with potential to fight a wide range of wound infections, including drug-resistant forms.

13 Oct 2010

MTN-007 phase trial evaluates vaginal microbicide to prevent rectal transmission of HIV

Tenofovir gel, a vaginal microbicide that has shown promise for preventing HIV through vaginal sex, is being tested in a new trial looking at its safety and acceptability when used rectally. The results of the study, being led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), will help determine if the gel should be evaluated further for its potential to prevent HIV among both men and women who engage in receptive anal intercourse.

13 Oct 2010

FDA approves Vivitrol for treatment of opioid-dependent patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Vivitrol to treat and prevent relapse after patients with opioid dependence have undergone detoxification treatment.

13 Oct 2010

ACE educational program launched to promote awareness on anaphylaxis

Many of the approximately 1,500 deaths in the U.S. each year due to anaphylaxis, a sudden serious allergic reaction, could be prevented if more people knew the symptoms and the immediate treatment needed to survive.

12 Oct 2010

Combination therapy for ovarian cancer leads to greater toxicity

Adding topotecan to carboplatin plus paclitaxel, the standard treatment for ovarian cancer, does not improve progression-free survival in patients and leads to greater toxicity, according to a study published online October 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

12 Oct 2010

NIH awards La Jolla Institute $12.6M to develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening

The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening -- a breakthrough genomics technology that will further enhance San Diego's reputation as a national research leader and provide the local biomedical community ready access to the Nobel-Prize winning technology.

11 Oct 2010

VBI researchers receive grant to study immune responses to gut pathogens

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a $10.6 million grant to researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and collaborators to determine how the human immune system responds to infection by pathogens of the gut. The funding will be used to apply mathematical modeling to the study of immune responses to gut pathogens.

11 Oct 2010

Childcare centers address food allergies of ethnically diverse population

Attention to children's food allergies at childcare centers can be a life-or-death issue. As these centers wrestle with the problem, some also have unique needs to address, such as an ethnically diverse child population.

11 Oct 2010

Progress in understanding mechanism behind photocontact allergy

What happens to sunscreens when they are exposed to sunlight? And how is the skin affected by the degradation products that form? This has been the subject of research at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology that will be presented at the upcoming dermatologist conference in Gothenburg.

11 Oct 2010

Research reveals that fragrances can cause contact allergy

The fragrances used in many household and skincare products can cause contact allergy when exposed to oxygen in the air, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg's Faculty of Science in conjunction with the University of Gothenburg to be presented at the dermatologist conference in Gothenburg.

11 Oct 2010

Abbott to withdraw Meridia medicine from the U.S. market

Abbott will voluntarily withdraw Meridia (sibutramine) from the U.S. market at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

11 Oct 2010

Biologists determine three-dimensional structure of molecule involved in HIV, cancer

In a technical tour de force, structural biologists funded by the National Institutes of Health have determined the three-dimensional structure of a molecule involved in HIV infection and in many forms of cancer. The high-resolution structure sheds light on how the molecule functions and could point to ways to control its activity, potentially locking out HIV and stalling cancer's spread.

8 Oct 2010

IV ibuprofen effective in reducing fever in hospitalized patients

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced the publication of data affirming the safety and efficacy of Caldolor (ibuprofen) Injection in treating fever in critically ill and non-critically ill adults. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Critical Care, the study showed that IV ibuprofen was significantly more effective at reducing fever in hospitalized patients than placebo.

8 Oct 2010

VentiRx announces VTX-1463 trial results for allergic rhinitis treatment

VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel Toll-Like Receptor 8 (TLR8) candidates for the treatment of cancer, respiratory and inflammatory diseases, announced today results from its randomized, placebo controlled clinical trial evaluating VTX-1463 for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

8 Oct 2010

NIAID announces three new contracts to fund research on dengue, anthrax vaccines

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced three new contracts to fund research on vaccines to protect against emerging infectious diseases and biological threats that could be used in a terror attack. Each project focuses on simple and efficient vaccine delivery approaches that could be deployed quickly. The total funding for the three contracts could reach $68 million, depending on the successful completion of defined project milestones.

8 Oct 2010

Inviragen, PharmaJet awarded NIAID contract to develop needle-free, easy to administer dengue vaccine

Inviragen and PharmaJet announced the award of a five year, $15.5 million dollar contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to advance the development of a needle-free, easy to administer dengue vaccine. The award will fund preclinical studies, regulatory filings, manufacturing and clinical testing of Inviragen's tetravalent dengue vaccine, DENVax delivered with PharmaJet's convenient needle-free injection device.

8 Oct 2010

NIAID awards $6.25M to Profectus to optimize portfolio of genetic adjuvants

Profectus BioSciences, Inc., a technology based vaccine company devoted to the treatment and prevention of chronic viral diseases, today announced that it has received $6.25M in National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) grants and contracts.

8 Oct 2010

CQ Healthbeat examines HIV prevention research funding

The global economy has affected HIV/AIDS prevention research, so "scientists and those who fund them are struggling to set priorities among several competing research methods that could slow the spread of the disease, which causes about 2.7 million new infections worldwide a year," CQ HealthBeat reports.

8 Oct 2010