Astma and COVID-19

Humanity encountered a coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (sars-cov-2)) pandemic on december 31, 2019 that is threatening the human race. The disease was first identified in the city of wuhan in china. It causes widespread pneumonia in the lungs, with the most significant laboratory findings being lymphopenia and eosinopenia in the blood count and elevated c-reactive protein and d-dimer. The findings increase with the progression of the clinical picture. Comorbidities in an individual determine the course of the disease, with the most important risk factors among those indicating a severe course being hypertension, ischemic heart disease, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Asthma represents no increased risk in terms of catching the coronavirus disease-2019 (covid-19), and no report has been published to date associating its risk with a more severe disease course. Covid-19, as with all other respiratory infections, interferes with control of asthma. It is important to keep asthma under control during this period, as always. Patients should not stop taking their inhaled steroids, nor should they reduce the dose. Similarly, systemic steroids should not be stopped if prescribed to keep asthma under control. The use of anti-ige, anti il-5/il-5 alpha and anti il-4 alpha does not increase the risk of contracting covid-19, and these drugs may also be used to maintain asthma under control. A "to do" list should be provided to patients by their physicians as an action plan in the event of a worsening of asthma symptoms. Patients with allergic rhinitis can safely use their nasal steroid and antihistaminic drugs. Hand disinfectants that contain chlorhexidine may cause asthma attacks, and are not active against sars-cov-2. Using latex gloves to ensure hand hygiene may also lead to asthma attacks in individuals with a latex allergy. Washing the hands with water and soap should be preferred rather than using gloves. In conclusion, covid-19 does not constitute a greater risk to patients with asthma. Inhaled steroids and systemic steroids that keep the asthma under control can be used safely. Lowering a step in the treatment of asthma is not recommended in this period

Recurrent anaphylaxis due to non-ruptured hepatic hydatid cysts

Background: Hydatid disease, a parasitic infestation of humans, is endemic in the Mediterranean region, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, and mostly involves the liver. Anaphylactic reactions, which sometimes are the first manifestations of the disease, frequently occur due to cyst rupture after a minor/major trauma, though they may also be spontaneously seen on rare occasions. In extremely few studies, anaphylactic shock has been reported in patients without macroscopic rupture of the hydatid cysts. Case Report: Our patient had recurrent anaphylactic episodes without any trauma and had been misdiagnosed for several years even though the patient was living in a region endemic for hydatid disease. Conclusion: We emphasize that physicians should be highly aware of hydatid disease as a possible etiology for seemingly idiopathic anaphylactic reactions, especially in endemic regions. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Latex sublingual immunotherapy: can its safety be predicted?

Background: Complete avoidance sometimes cannot be possible in latex-allergic health care workers. So far, very few double-blind placebo-controlled studies revealed the efficacy of sublingual latex immunotherapy (SLIT) in those patients

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUTION OF A TURKISH "RHINITIS QUALITY OF LIFE SCALE"

WOS: 000307988400007Objective: Questioning the quality of life in patients with chronic diseases is important. However questionnaires should be suitable to the structure and habits of the community studied as well as it should be easily understood. Considering the fact that rhinitis adversely affect the quality of life, we developed a rhinitis scale of quality of life, which suits the life style and habits of our population in patients with rhinitis. Material and Method: Scale includes the 28 parameters that are needed to be graded and scored about daily activities, nasal symptoms, and eye complaints, sleep disorders in addition to social and emotional assessment. A total of 163 patients with allergic rhinitis, that applied to Allergy division of Internal Medicine Department of Istanbul Medical School have been included into the study Symptoms scoring has been performed with short form 36 (SF-36) and novel scale at week 0, week 1 and 1 month after treatment. The results of newly developed rhinitis quality of life scale were compared with statistical methods for language validity, reliability, repeatability, reproducibility and sensitivity. Results: Language validity of scale was shown (n=20). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) is 0.8877, Cronbach cilia is 0.94; these values are high and represent the reliability of new scale (control at 1. week without treatment n=38). Although there is a weak correlation between the results of new scale and SF-36 sub parameter scores, these correlations were significant in statistical analysis (n=.103) (validation). New scale was significantly sensitive for determining the pre and post treatment changes (n=103) (z=-7.452, p=0.000). Conclusion: This newly developed scale is practical, easy to be administrated in short periods; also it has sufficient reliability, reproducibility, validity and sensitivity characteristics. We concluded that this scale is suitable for both determining the clinical status and response to treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis

Lymphocyte Markers and Proliferative Responses to Microbial Antigens in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis

Objective: Atopy is a condition of predisposition to allergic reaction to environmental allergens, and T cells have a critical role in initiating and ending allergic responses. This study was conducted to evaluate the T cell responses of atopic patients with allergic rhinitis who have allergen-hyperreactive memory CD4 T cells in vitro. Material and Methods: Cell surface markers (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD28, CD45RA, CD45RO, CD95, HLA-DR) were analyzed for T and B lymphocytes by flow cytometry using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) or phycoerythrin (PE) labeled monoclonal antibodies. T cell proliferative response assessing pokeweed mitogen (PWM), tetanus toxoid (TT), purified protein derivative of mycobacterium (PPD) and cytomegalovirus antigen (CMV) were examined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay. Results: Immune profile and lymphoproliferative responses of 19 allergic rhinitis (AR) patients with positive prick skin test and nasal blockage, discharge, sneeze, nasal or ocular itching (mean age 33.2 +/- 8.4), and 10 healthy controls (mean age 31.6 +/- 9.1) were evaluated. CD3 and CD4 expression was higher in AR patients than in healthy controls. Memory (CD45RO) and activated (CD28) T cell levels were higher, but lymphoproliferation to PWM, TT, PPD, and CWV was decreased in AR patients. Conclusion: The high CD28 and CD45RO expression associated with atopy symptoms indicated that immune reactions in AR patients tended to show an undesirable shift toward Th2 skewed with high levels of allergen-reactive memory T cells. Consequently, the reduced lymphoproliferation to non-allergenic stimulants such as mitogens, bacterial and viral antigens in AR patients may lead to reduced immune response capability to infectious agents

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUTION OF A TURKISH "RHINITIS QUALITY OF LIFE SCALE"

Objective: Questioning the quality of life in patients with chronic diseases is important. However questionnaires should be suitable to the structure and habits of the community studied as well as it should be easily understood. Considering the fact that rhinitis adversely affect the quality of life, we developed a rhinitis scale of quality of life, which suits the life style and habits of our population in patients with rhinitis

Allergic vs nonallergic rhinitis: which is more predisposing to chronic rhinosinusitis?

Background: The impact of allergy on chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is controversial

Conventional markers in determination of activity of sarcoidosis

Aim and background: Currently, there are no objective criteria to determine sarcoidosis activity. The present study aimed to discover a sensitive serum marker that would determine the activity of sarcoidosis and can be used during disease follow-up

High adherence to subcutaneous immunotherapy in a real-life study from a large tertiary medical center

Background: Studies on real-life adherence to subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) for respiratory allergy are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to SCIT