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Medscape
05-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Severity of Reactions Linked to Stopping Oral Immunotherapy
Patients with food allergy who discontinued oral immunotherapy were those who were more likely to experience a reaction to the treatment than those who reached maintenance of allergen foods, according to research at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2025 Meeting. They were also more likely to experience moderate and severe reactions, particularly mild abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and pruritus, reported Eirene Fithian, of the MD program at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and colleagues in a poster. 'Oral immunotherapy discontinuation was low overall but varied by allergen, with higher discontinuation rates observed for allergens with a high incidence of severe reactions compared to the mean,' they reported. Food allergy affects an estimated 8% of children and 10% of adults in the United States, but advances in oral immunotherapy have opened up treatment options for these individuals, the researchers noted. 'The fear of adverse reactions remains a barrier to treatment, yet little data exists on the role of adverse reactions in treatment discontinuation,' they wrote. 'Identifying factors associated with oral immunotherapy discontinuation is critical to addressing concerns and improving the safety and efficacy of oral immunotherapy.' The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study with data from 1003 patients, aged less than 1 year to 47 years, who underwent oral immunotherapy for peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, and/or sesame allergy at Latitude Food Allergy Care between 2018 and 2024. They assessed all treatment-related reactions in terms of frequency, type, and severity. They excluded patients lost to follow-up or updosing and stratified the remaining patients by those who discontinued treatment vs those who reached maintenance for all foods. Those who discontinued treatment included 8.2% receiving oral immunotherapy for milk, 7.3% for sesame, 6.1% for egg, 5.2% for tree nut, and 5.1% for peanut. The overall discontinuation rate was 5%. (Some patients were receiving oral immunotherapy for multiple allergens, so there is overlap by allergen discontinuation rates.) After adjusting for gender, age, and comorbidities, results revealed that patients undergoing oral immunotherapy for milk had more than twice the odds of discontinuing treatment (OR, 2.68; P < .05). The average incidence of severe reactions was 13%, but incidence was higher for milk (22%), sesame (20%), and egg (25%). About 1 in 5 patients (20%) who discontinued therapy had any reaction compared with 5.2% overall and 4.0% of those who reached maintenance. 'Patients who discontinued oral immunotherapy had similar frequencies of experiencing mild reactions compared to those who reached maintenance but a higher incidence of moderate and severe reactions,' the researchers reported. Those who discontinued treatment also 'had a higher frequency of reactions to oral immunotherapy doses, including higher frequency of the top three reported symptoms of reaction: Mild abdominal pain, emesis or diarrhea, and pruritus compared to the overall mean of those who reached maintenance.' Mild abdominal pain was reported in 5.5% of those who discontinued compared with 1.3% overall and 0.9% of those who reached maintenance. Vomiting or diarrhea occurred in 4.5% of those who discontinued treatment compared with 0.4% overall and 0.3% who reached maintenance. Pruritus occurred in 4.9% of those who discontinued compared with 2.1% overall and 1.9% of those who reached maintenance. 'The number of patients is very impressive and adds to the strengths of this retrospective study,' Jonathan Tam, MD, medical director of the Gores Family Allergy Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, told Medscape Medical News . He also noted that the rate of patients who discontinued oral immunotherapy overall was lower than published rates in clinical trials, but the rate of severe reactions was conversely higher. 'Even given this rate of severe reactions, the discontinuation rate was generally low,' Tam said. 'Overall, the findings make sense and are a practical guide to helping patients make decisions oral immunotherapy.' The authors did not report receiving external funding or having any disclosures. Tam was not involved with the study but is working with Latitude in a Children's Hospital of Los Angeles clinic.
Scottish Sun
25-04-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Toddlers given common medicine have 20% higher risk of obesity by primary school, study warns
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ANTIBIOTICS are one of the miracles of modern medicine. The drugs have transformed the treatment of deadly bacterial infections, made surgery possible, and saved millions of lives in the process. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Antibiotics taken before the age of two have been linked to increased risk of obesity in later childhood. Credit: Getty However, there is a growing body of research that suggests antibiotics taken in early life could come with health risks, including increasing the risk of asthma and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), like Crohn's disease. New research from Finland found children given antibiotics in the first two years of their lives have a greater risk of being obese by the time they started primary school never took them. Meanwhile, childhood obesity is fast becoming a public health issue worldwide, with rates rising at an alarming pace. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of kids and teens aged five to 19 who are overweight or obese has jumped from 31million in 1990 to over 390million in 2022. In the UK, the trend is just as concerning. Recent NHS figures from the 2023/24 school year suggest that 22 per cent of children aged 10 to 11 are considered obese. But the risk of obesity is still not a reason to withhold antibiotics from a child if they genuinely need them - the benefits still outweigh the risks. The new study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2025 Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, explored how antibiotic exposure from pregnancy to early childhood affects children's weight. To do this, researchers analysed data from 33,095 born children using national health registers, medical records, and electronic growth charts. Scientists from the University of Oulu discovered that children given antibiotics in their first two years had a higher body mass index (BMI) by age two and were 20 per cent more likely to develop obesity by age 12. The 7 ways you're making your kids fat without knowing it - and why it might be time to bin your Early exposure to the medicines also raised the risk of becoming overweight by nine per cent. They also found taking antibiotics during pregnancy was not linked to higher BMI or weight gain in children later on. 'Providers need to be cautious about prescribing antibiotics for young toddlers, especially unnecessary antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections,' Dr Sofia Ainonen, the study's presenting author, said.
The Sun
25-04-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Toddlers given common medicine have 20% higher risk of obesity by primary school, study warns
ANTIBIOTICS are one of the miracles of modern medicine. The drugs have transformed the treatment of deadly bacterial infections, made surgery possible, and saved millions of lives in the process. 1 However, there is a growing body of research that suggests antibiotics taken in early life could come with health risks, including increasing the risk of asthma and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), like Crohn's disease. New research from Finland found children given antibiotics in the first two years of their lives have a greater risk of being obese by the time they started primary school never took them. Meanwhile, childhood obesity is fast becoming a public health issue worldwide, with rates rising at an alarming pace. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of kids and teens aged five to 19 who are overweight or obese has jumped from 31million in 1990 to over 390million in 2022. In the UK, the trend is just as concerning. Recent NHS figures from the 2023/24 school year suggest that 22 per cent of children aged 10 to 11 are considered obese. But the risk of obesity is still not a reason to withhold antibiotics from a child if they genuinely need them - the benefits still outweigh the risks. The new study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2025 Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, explored how antibiotic exposure from pregnancy to early childhood affects children's weight. To do this, researchers analysed data from 33,095 born children using national health registers, medical records, and electronic growth charts. Scientists from the University of Oulu discovered that children given antibiotics in their first two years had a higher body mass index (BMI) by age two and were 20 per cent more likely to develop obesity by age 12. The 7 ways you're making your kids fat without knowing it - and why it might be time to bin your Early exposure to the medicines also raised the risk of becoming overweight by nine per cent. They also found taking antibiotics during pregnancy was not linked to higher BMI or weight gain in children later on. 'Providers need to be cautious about prescribing antibiotics for young toddlers, especially unnecessary antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections,' Dr Sofia Ainonen, the study's presenting author, said. Everything you need to know about antibiotics ANTIBIOTICS are usually something you'll come across if you suffer a nasty bug. The life-saving pills are used by millions every year, for a whole host of issues. They are specifically used to help our bodies fight off bacterial infections. And once upon a time, they were handed out relatively freely. But many countries have joined the fight to prevent antibiotic resistance, the drugs are no longer routinely used to treat all infections. Antibiotics don't work for everything and here we take a look at how long it takes them to work and whether or not you need to take the full course. How long does it take for antibiotics to start working? Antibiotics start to work straight away — but you might not get them until you've felt unwell for a while. They work by or preventing bacteria from spreading or killing them, the NHS states. However, they don't work for viral infections. This includes colds and flu, Covid, chest infections, ear infections in children, and most coughs and sore throats. In most cases they will be prescribed to you if the bacterial infection won't clear up without them or if you could infect others. Medication could also be given if the infection would take too long to clear on its own or if it carries the risk of more serious complications. When will I feel better? Everyone is different - as is their response to antibiotics. Most people will feel better towards the end of the course, but this varies, and will depend on the drug being taken. Most antibiotics should be taken for one to two weeks but shorter treatments work just as well in some cases. Your doctor will decide the best length of treatment and correct antibiotic type for you. If you have completed the course and don't see any signs of improvement, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Do I need to take my full course of antibiotics? It can be tempting to stop taking antibiotics as soon as you're starting to feel better - but doctors say you shouldn't as it can result in the infection returning. Doing so also contributes to the growing issue of antibiotic resistance. If you forget to take an antibiotic, it's not the end of the world, but take that dose as soon as you remember and carry on with the course of antibiotics as normal. But if it's almost time for the next dose, skip the missed one and continue your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one as this can increase the risk of side effects. What are the side effects? The NHS states that most commonly, people will feel sick, be sick, have bloating and indigestion, while others also have diarrhoea. Guidance states that some people might also have an allergic reaction to the medication - especially penicillin and another type of antibiotic called cephalosporins
