Allergy Month in Review | October 2024

This review of the HCPLive editorial team’s coverage of allergy news during October 2024 features a variety of noteworthy developments in the allergy health space. The team covered a significant number of notable allergy developments, some of which involve new research into food allergy.

Other stories covered in October featured new findings on such topics as epinephrine auto-injectors for anaphylaxis. In all, the month featured an array of different news in the allergy space, allowing patients with allergies as well as clinicians to be more informed regarding the latest advancements.

The following set of stories are a sample of the HCPLive team’s allergy coverage:

Anaphylm Sublingual Film Achieves Rapid Resolution of Allergen-Related Symptoms

In 1 notable story covered in October, Anaphylm (epinephrine) sublingual film was shown to have achieved the Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) challenge study’s key primary and secondary endpoints for the resolving of symptoms of severe allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. The new findings were announced by Aquestive Therapeutics.

“I am reassured by the speed of symptom relief seen in the OAS study and by the continued and consistent rapid absorption profile of Anaphylm,” Jay Lieberman, MD, a professor of medicine in the department of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, said in a statement. “These data provide strong evidence that Anaphylm could provide a reliable alternative to the approved epinephrine medical devices currently available to patients.”

Psychology Referrals Rose for Children with Food Allergies in the Past Decade

Another story highlighted data presented at the 2024 American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, the results of which suggested that psychology referrals dramatically rose for children with food allergies in the prior decade. The study noted the experiences of many patients and children with anxiety surrounding food allergies.

Food allergy-related anxieties were also noted as tending to center around certain phobias and fears, the Allergy & Asthma Network suggests, including fears about allergen safety, needles, allergic reactions, fears of eating out, traveling, anaphylaxis, epinephrine use, rejection, humiliation, bullying, exclusion, and death.

Baked Milk Products Benefit Quality of Life in Milk-Allergic Children

Another October development was the release of data suggesting that adding baked milk products to a child’s regular diet may improve their growth and quality of life among those who are cow’s milk-allergic. These findings had resulted from research conducted over 3 years.

Successful dose escalation to a more allergenic form of milk (MFAM), including pizza, a muffin, rice pudding, or non-baked milk products, was associated with quality of life improvements among children in both 6- and 12-month dose escalation groups.

Infants < 1 Year with Food Allergy Can Safely Eat Low Doses of Causative Food

Additional research covered in October suggested that infants under the age of 1 year old who also had a food allergy may safely consume lower doses of causative foods. Additionally, the investigators of this study indicated that parents should avoid eliminating causative foods in the diets of their infants as they may help them long-term.

“The amount of food that can be consumed without triggering allergic symptoms can be confirmed when a patient passes the [low-dose oral food challenge],” the investigators, led by Mari Takei from the NHO Sagamihara National Hospital in Japan, wrote. “This strategy also reduces the burden on guardians regarding allergic symptoms caused by contamination.”

Study Finds Adrenaline Auto-Injectors Mostly Ineffective Against Fatal Anaphylaxis

Adrenaline auto-injectors were shown in a new study to have little impact on fatal anaphylaxis rates and the injectors’ lack of a sustained plasma adrenaline concentration indicated adrenaline infusion alternatives. These findings, published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy, look at self-administered auto-injectors and the research was authored in part by Marcus Sim, MD, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London.

“Consistent with the findings from in vivo studies in humans, dogs and rats, the steady increase in (adrenaline auto-injectors) availability over the past 35 years has not been accompanied by an equivalent reduction in population rates of fatal anaphylaxis,” Sim and colleagues wrote. “Thus, (adrenaline auto-injectors) may not be reliably effective for preventing fatal anaphylaxis.”

9 Distinct Trajectories Identified in Children with Asthma, Allergy

In another study covered in October, investigators identified 9 trajectories of asthma and allergy among children with distinct differences in longitudinal patterns, parental report and medication use, and classes and frequency of dispensed treatments.

“The present study was strengthened by the use of combined parental report and register data, enriching disease characterization with personal experience and medication utilization,” the research team led by Daniil Lisik, MD, from Krefting Research Centre at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, wrote.