Eczema News and Research

Latest Eczema News and Research

FDA approves new smallpox vaccination

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Vaccinia Immune Globulin Intravenous (VIGIV) - the first intravenous human plasma-derived product available to treat certain rare complications of smallpox vaccination.

20 Feb 2005

At-home hand dermatitis treatment with oral medication and use of a portable tanning effective treatment for hand eczema

An at-home hand dermatitis treatment with oral medication and use of a portable tanning unit appears to be as effective as a hospital-based treatment in reducing the symptoms of hand dermatitis, according to an article in the December issue of The Archives of Dermatology.

20 Dec 2004

Fathers' genes play an equal part in the spread of eczema

Doctors have known for many years that eczema - also known as atopic dermatitis - runs in families. In the past, it was thought that if a baby suffered from eczema, it was more likely to have come from the mother's side.

29 Nov 2004

Cells linked to asthma and eczema also help cure deadly illness in mice

Mast cells are immune cells known mostly for their unwanted effects: they cause the wheezing of asthma, the itching of eczema, the sneezing and runny nose of hay fever and, in extreme cases, the life-threatening shock of anaphylaxis.

20 Nov 2004

Mast cells can provide protection from a potentially deadly condition known as sepsis

14 Nov 2004

Some allergic conditions could increase your risk of suffering from blood cancer

Some allergic conditions could increase your risk of suffering from blood cancer as an adult, according to a new study published in the November 2004 issue of BMC Public Health. This is important news for the increasingly large numbers of allergy sufferers worldwide.

4 Nov 2004

Researchers identify a protein that could banish allergies

The suffering of millions of people with allergies could one day be eased thanks to new research from UK investigators. Findings from the University College London branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR), published in the Oct 2004 issue of Nature, detail how inactivating a key signalling molecule called p110delta reduced the effect of allergies on mice.

21 Oct 2004

HHS awards contracts totaling more than $232 million to fund development of new vaccines against smallpox, plague and tularemia

United States Department of Health and Human Services has announced four new contracts totaling more than $232 million to fund development of new vaccines against three potential agents of bioterrorism: smallpox, plague and tularemia. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will administer the contracts.

8 Oct 2004

Australian researchers hunt for eczema genes

The Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) is halfway through a major project examining possible genetic causes of atopic dermatitis which is the most common form of eczema.

6 Oct 2004

Dust collected from the homes of children with persistent allergic symptoms had higher levels of common chemical additives

Dust collected from the homes of children with persistent allergic symptoms had higher levels of certain phthalates, a class of common chemical additives, in it than dust found in homes of children without symptoms, according to a study published in the October 2004 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

29 Sep 2004

Cutting levels of household allergens is unlikely to have much impact on childhood asthma

Cutting levels of household allergens, such as cat dander and dust mite, is unlikely to have much impact on the subsequent development of childhood asthma and respiratory allergies, suggests research in Thorax.

29 Sep 2004

Asthma stable, allergies rising in British children

The rate of asthma among children in the United Kingdom seems to have stabilised, but the tendency for children to develop allergies is still increasing, according to a study in this week's BMJ.

26 Aug 2004

Softening agents in their home linked to asthma and allergies

There is a clear co-variation between allergic symptoms in children and the concentration of softening agents in their homes. This is a finding made by a Swedish-Danish research team in a recently published study financed by Formas

16 Aug 2004

The first ever model of live skin with a full ecosystem of micro-organisms

Many long-established skin products, such as shampoos and soaps, contain harmful or ineffective ingredients because effective testing methods were unavailable when they were developed.

8 Jul 2004

High levels of endotoxin, a bacterial compound that collects in house dust, may lower likelihood of eczema in children

Children whose homes contain high levels of endotoxin, a bacterial compound that collects in house dust, may be less likely to develop eczema during their first year of life

6 Jul 2004

Antibiotic use early in life does not increase the subsequent risk of asthma

Previous research has indicated that infections in early life may offer protection from developing asthma. Therefore, it has been suggested that antibiotics increase the risk of asthma by reducing the protective effect of infections or by interfering with normal bacterial flora in the gut.

26 Jun 2004

Seasons affect rates of asthma and eczema

Climate may influence prevailing rates of asthma and eczema indicates an international study of almost 670,000 children in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

21 Jun 2004

Network formed to tackle potentially fatal reaction to smallpox vaccine

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), launched the Atopic Dermatitis and Vaccinia Network (ADVN), a nationwide research group that seeks to reduce the risk of eczema vaccinatum (EV), a severe and potentially deadly complication of smallpox immunization.

19 May 2004

$20.7 million to make smallpox vaccine safer

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a five-year, $20.7 million grant to National Jewish Medical and Research Center to lead a consortium of academic medical centers trying to make smallpox vaccines safer for millions of people with atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema.

19 May 2004

Alternative vaccine to Dryvax for smallpox

Not everybody can safely be vaccinated against smallpox using the current FDA-approved vaccine. Scientists hope another study vaccine, now undergoing its first testing in the United States at Saint Louis University, will give a choice to people who can't be given the current vaccine, known as Dryvax®.

10 May 2004