EAACI food allergy and anaphylaxis guidelines: diagnosis and management of food allergy.

Food allergy can result in considerable morbidity, impact negatively on quality of life, and prove costly in terms of medical care. These guidelines have been prepared by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology's (EAACI) Guidelines for Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Group, building on previous EAACI position papers on adverse reaction to foods and three recent systematic reviews on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of food allergy, and provide evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of food allergy. While the primary audience is allergists, this document is relevant for all other healthcare professionals, including primary care physicians, and pediatric and adult specialists, dieticians, pharmacists and paramedics. Our current understanding of the manifestations of food allergy, the role of diagnostic tests, and the effective management of patients of all ages with food allergy is presented. The acute management of non-life-threatening reactions is covered in these guidelines, but for guidance on the emergency management of anaphylaxis, readers are referred to the related EAACI Anaphylaxis Guidelines.

Low back pain in schoolchildren. A study of familial and psychological factors.

STUDY DESIGN: The results of a survey organized in the school system of the Swiss canton of Fribourg. An original questionnaire was developed for this study are reported. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to evaluate the possible role of familial or psychological factors in schoolchildren reporting nonspecific low back pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous surveys have shown a high prevalence of nonspecific low back. pain among schoolchildren, particularly teen-agers. The reported familial incidence raises, among others, the question of a possible role of psychological or behavioral factors. METHODS: This survey was performed with a validated 43-item self-administered questionnaire eliciting information about back pain history, family characteristics, children's activities, and psychological parameters. All schoolchildren (n = 615), ages 12-17 years, in two secondary schools (Fribourg, Switzerland) were surveyed. The response rate was 98%. RESULTS: Reported lifetime prevalence of back pain was 74%. Lumbar pain was the most frequent localization of pain (69% of back pain). The measured psychological factors were significantly associated with reported nonspecific low back pain and its consequences as well as with sibling history of low back pain. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that psychological factors play a role in children's reporting of nonspecific low back pain.

Reproductive capacity and longevity of stable flies maintained on different kinds of blood.

An investigation was made into some lesser known aspects of the biology of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, in order to find a basis for possible means of natural control of the pest on dairy farms. The reaction of adults to different kinds of blood was tested. Diets investigated were bovine blood alternated with ovine blood, bovine blood alternated with pig's blood, bovine blood alternated with manure filtrate, bovine blood alone, ovine blood alone, pig's blood alone and manure filtrate alone. Adults could not servive on manure filtrate alone. Flies in the other treatments exhibited no marked differences as regards duration of pre-mating-, pre-oviposition- and oviposition periods. There were, however, differences in the number of eggs laid. Females maintained on bovine blood alone produced most eggs i.e. 2,3 times as many as those laid by females fed on pig's blood alone. The latter were the poorest producers. Viability and incubation period of eggs did not appear to be affected by the kind of blood fed to the adults. Flies, however, lived longer when supplied with bovine blood and died sooner when maintained on pig's blood.

Primary prevention, education, and low back pain among school children.

After a survey in 1986, a primary educational prevention program for low back pain (LBP) was implemented over a 3 year period in a primary school setting in Switzerland. In 1989 a second survey was carried out to evaluate the effect of the intervention. One thousand seven hundred and fifty-five (1755) children received a questionnaire, 1716 (97.7%) were returned. Recollection of participation in the prevention program was significantly associated with reported increased prevalence of LBP (p 0.000). Simultaneously, there was a significant reduction in the utilization of medical care for LBP (p < 0.05).

Low back pain in schoolchildren. An epidemiological study.

A prospective epidemiological study was conducted to determine the prevalence of backache and the aetiological role of several contributing factors. 1715 schoolchildren of both sexes answered a previously validated questionnaire. Approximately 33% of our sample had already suffered from low back pain (LBP) at some time. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between LBP and age, female sex, time spent watching TV, smoking and competitive sports.

Non-specific low-back pain among schoolchildren: a field survey with analysis of some associated factors.

A study population composed of 1,755 children 8-16 years of age were surveyed using a 15-item, self-administered questionnaire. The response rate was 97.7%. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate the possible association between low-back pain and certain social factors and predicaments. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis showed that parental history of treated low-back pain (adjusted odds ratio 2.10; p < 0.001), competitive sports activity (adjusted odds ratio 1.73; p = 0.003), and time spent watching television (adjusted odds ratio 1.23; p = 0.05) significantly increased the risk for low-back pain among children, controlling for the child's age and gender.