Fish and shellfish allergy: Presentation and management differences in the UK and US-analysis of 945 patients.

Background: Seafood allergy (SA), including allergy to shellfish (crustacean and mollusks) and fish, is among the 4 most common food allergies causing anaphylaxis, but there are limited data showing SA clinical management in different countries. Objective: We sought to characterize a large cohort of patients with fish and shellfish allergy and to facilitate standardization of future care for this increasingly common allergic disease. Methods: We performed a retrospective, observational, noninterventional study from 945 patients from 2015 to 2019 in 7 hospitals in the United States and the United Kingdom to evaluate SA. A chi-square test was used to detect differences in family history, medical history, and current symptoms between patients in 2 countries. Results: Underdiagnosed anaphylaxis in patients with SA was associated with underuse of epinephrine (adrenaline) autoinjectors in both countries. Oral food challenge was used only when skin or serologic test results were negative. Asthma and allergic rhinitis were more common in the US patients with SA, but eczema was more common in UK patients with SA (P < .001). Respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological symptoms were higher in UK patients with SA than in US patients with SA (P < .001). Conclusions: In international multicenter cohorts of patients with fish and shellfish allergy, there are opportunities for improvement in management. Physician identification of anaphylaxis, use of diagnostic oral food challenges, and anaphylaxis treatment with epinephrine are areas with significant knowledge gaps in need of improvement in the United Kingdom and the United States. There is an opportunity for the development of unified, standardized diagnostic protocols for SA with distribution for allergists and trainees.

A National Survey of Hereditary Angioedema and Acquired C1 Inhibitor Deficiency in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: Detailed demographic data on people with hereditary angioedema (HAE) and acquired C1 inhibitor deficiency in the United Kingdom are relatively limited. Better demographic data would be beneficial in planning service provision, identifying areas of improvement, and improving care. OBJECTIVE: To obtain more accurate data on the demographics of HAE and acquired C1 inhibitor deficiency in the United Kingdom, including treatment modalities and services available to patients. METHODS: A survey was distributed to all centers in the United Kingdom that look after patients with HAE and acquired C1 inhibitor deficiency to collect these data. RESULTS: The survey identified 1152 patients with HAE-1/2 (58% female and 92% type 1), 22 patients with HAE with normal C1 inhibitor, and 91 patients with acquired C1 inhibitor deficiency. Data were provided by 37 centers across the United Kingdom. This gives a minimum prevalence of 1:59,000 for HAE-1/2 and 1:734,000 for acquired C1 inhibitor deficiency in the United Kingdom. A total of 45% of patients with HAE were on long-term prophylaxis (LTP) with the most used medication being danazol (55% of all patients on LTP). Eighty-two percent of patients with HAE had a home supply of acute treatment with C1 inhibitor or icatibant. A total of 45% of patients had a supply of icatibant and 56% had a supply of C1 inhibitor at home. CONCLUSIONS: Data obtained from the survey provide useful information about the demographics and treatment modalities used in HAE and acquired C1 inhibitor deficiency in the United Kingdom. These data are useful for planning service provision and improving services for these patients.

New approach to investigate Common Variable Immunodeficiency patients using spectrochemical analysis of blood.

Common variable immune deficiency (CVID) is a primary immunodeficiency disease, characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia, recurrent infections and various complications. The clinical heterogeneity of CVID has hindered identification of an underlying immune defect; diagnosis relies on clinical judgement, alongside evidence-based criteria. The lack of pathognomonic clinical or laboratory features leads to average diagnostic delays of 5 years or more from the onset. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy have recently gained increasing clinical importance, being rapid-, non-invasive and inexpensive methods to obtain information on the content of biological samples. This has led us to apply FTIR spectroscopy to the investigation of blood samples from a cohort of CVID patients; revealing spectral features capable of stratifying CVID patients from healthy controls with sensitivities and specificities of 97% and 93%, respectively for serum, and 94% and 95%, respectively for plasma. Furthermore we identified several discriminating spectral biomarkers; wavenumbers in regions indicative of nucleic acids (984 cm-1, 1053 cm-1, 1084 cm-1, 1115 cm-1, 1528 cm-1, 1639 cm-1), and a collagen-associated biomarker (1528 cm-1), which may represent future candidate biomarkers and provide new knowledge on the aetiology of CVID. This proof-of-concept study provides a basis for developing a novel diagnostic tool for CVID.