Assessment of safety and effectiveness of desoximetasone emollient cream 0.25% in comparison to mometasone cream 0.1% in Indian patients with eczema

Background: Topical corticosteroids have become indispensable in the treatment of eczema. The current study was conducted to assess the safety and effectiveness of Desoximetasone emollient cream 0.25% (DESO) compared to Mometasone cream 0.1% (MOM) in patients with eczema.Methods: This was a prospective, observational, open label, multicentre post marketing study at real-life scenario. Newly diagnosed, treatment naïve patients with clinical diagnosis of eczema were enrolled. All patients received either DESO or MOM for 3 weeks. Primary end point was proportion of patients developing adverse events. Secondary endpoints comprised of change in visual analog scale for perception of improvement in intensity of pruritus at day 14 and day 21 from baseline, change in eczema area and severity index (EASI) score at day 0 and day 21.Results: 45 patients in DESO group and 43 patients in MOM group completed study. DESO and MOM were well tolerated. Severity of pruritus was significantly reduced in 54.59% patients in DESO group compared to 45.60% patients in MOM group on day 14 (p=0.023). Severity of pruritus was reduced in 69.16% patients in DESO group as compared to 66.97 % patients in MOM group on day 21 (p=NS). There was a statistically significant reduction (p<0.001) in EASI score at day 21 and as compared to baseline within the study groups, but without any difference between the groups.Conclusions: Desoximetasone 0.25% emollient cream was well tolerated in the treatment of eczema with earlier reduction in pruritus as compared to Mometasone furoate 1% cream

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management and course of chronic urticaria

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupts health care around the globe. The impact of the pandemic on chronic urticaria (CU) and its management are largely unknown. Aim: To understand how CU patients are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; how specialists alter CU patient management; and the course of CU in patients with COVID-19. Materials and Methods: Our cross-sectional, international, questionnaire-based, multicenter UCARE COVID-CU study assessed the impact of the pandemic on patient consultations, remote treatment, changes in medications, and clinical consequences. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic severely impairs CU patient care, with less than 50% of the weekly numbers of patients treated as compared to before the pandemic. Reduced patient referrals and clinic hours were the major reasons. Almost half of responding UCARE physicians were involved in COVID-19 patient care, which negatively impacted on the care of urticaria patients. The rate of face-to-face consultations decreased by 62%, from 90% to less than half, whereas the rate of remote consultations increased by more than 600%, from one in 10 to more than two thirds. Cyclosporine and systemic corticosteroids, but not antihistamines or omalizumab, are used less during the pandemic. CU does not affect the course of COVID-19, but COVID-19 results in CU exacerbation in one of three patients, with higher rates in patients with severe COVID-19. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic brings major changes and challenges for CU patients and their physicians. The long-term consequences of these changes, especially the increased use of remote consultations, require careful evaluation

The international EAACI/GA²LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria

This update and revision of the international guideline for urticaria was developed following the methods recommended by Cochrane and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. It is a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA(2)LEN) and its Urticaria and Angioedema Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCAREs and ACAREs), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF; EuroGuiDerm), and the Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology with the participation of 64 delegates of 50 national and international societies and from 31 countries. The consensus conference was held on 3 December 2020. This guideline was acknowledged and accepted by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). Urticaria is a frequent, mast cell-driven disease that presents with wheals, angioedema, or both. The lifetime prevalence for acute urticaria is approximately 20%. Chronic spontaneous or inducible urticaria is disabling, impairs quality of life, and affects performance at work and school. This updated version of the international guideline for urticaria covers the definition and classification of urticaria and outlines expert-guided and evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the different subtypes of urticaria

The international EAACI/GA(2)LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 GA²LEN. Allergy published by European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.This update and revision of the international guideline for urticaria was developed following the methods recommended by Cochrane and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. It is a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA(2)LEN) and its Urticaria and Angioedema Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCAREs and ACAREs), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF; EuroGuiDerm), and the Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology with the participation of 64 delegates of 50 national and international societies and from 31 countries. The consensus conference was held on 3 December 2020. This guideline was acknowledged and accepted by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). Urticaria is a frequent, mast cell-driven disease that presents with wheals, angioedema, or both. The lifetime prevalence for acute urticaria is approximately 20%. Chronic spontaneous or inducible urticaria is disabling, impairs quality of life, and affects performance at work and school. This updated version of the international guideline for urticaria covers the definition and classification of urticaria and outlines expert-guided and evidence-based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the different subtypes of urticaria.Peer reviewe

Secukinumab – first in class interleukin-17A inhibitor for the treatment of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a complex inflammatory disease that occurs in genetically susceptible individuals and presents with the development of erythematous scaly plaques on the skin. Interleukins (ILs) in the Th17 pathway play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and have thus become targets for recent biologic drug development. Secukinumab is a human monoclonal IgG1k antibody that has been developed to target and block the actions of IL-17A. Secukinumab recently approved for use as first-line systemic therapy in a patient with moderate to severe psoriasis has been studied first in psoriasis before other diseases. Both Phase II and III clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of secukinumab in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, and it has demonstrated superiority to other comparable biologics on the market, including the tumor necrosis factor inhibitor etanercept. Secukinumab has also shown superiority to ustekinumab, a relatively recent biologic introduced for the treatment of psoriasis. Besides demonstrating better efficacy compared to etanercept and ustekinumab, secukinumab has also demonstrated a greater impact of the quality of life of patients with a comparable safety profile. Secukinumab shows great promise in having a tremendous impact on the treatment of plaque psoriasis based on its ability to produce similar, if not better, clinical outcomes than other biologic antipsoriasis medications