1. Behavioural patterns in allergic rhinitis medication in Europe : a study using 28 MASK-air® real-world dataBernardo Sousa-Pinto, Ana Sá-Sousa, Rafael José Vieira, Rita Amaral, Ludger Klimek, Wienczyslawa Czarlewski, Josep M. Antò i Boquè, Oliver Pfaar, Anna Bedbrook, Mihaela Zidarn, Joao A. Fonseca, Jean Bousquet, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Background. Co-medication is common among patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), but its dimension and patterns are unknown. This is particularly relevant since AR is understood differently across European countries, as reflected by rhinitis-related search patterns in Google Trends. This study aims to assess AR co-medication and its regional patterns in Europe, using real-world data. Methods. We analysed 2015-2020 MASK-air® European data. We compared days under no medication, monotherapy, and co-medication using the visual analogue scale (VAS) levels for overall allergic symptoms (“VAS Global Symptoms”) and impact of AR on work. We assessed the monthly use of different medication schemes, performing separate analyses by region (defined geographically or by Google Trends patterns). We estimated the average number of different drugs reported per patient within one year. Results. We analysed 222,024 days (13,122 users), including 63,887 days (28.8%) under monotherapy, and 38,315 (17.3%) under co-medication. The median “VAS Global Symptoms” was 7 for no medication days, 14 for monotherapy and 21 for co-medication (p<0.001). Medication use peaked during the spring, with similar patterns across different European regions (defined geographically or by Google Trends). Oral H1-antihistamines were the most common medication in single and co-medication. Each patient reported using an annual average of 2.7 drugs, with 80% reporting two or more. Conclusions. AR medication patterns are similar across European regions. One third of treatment days involved co-medication. These findings suggest that patients treat themselves according to their symptoms (irrespective of how they understand AR), and that co-medication use is driven by symptom severity. Keywords: asthma -- drug therapy, rhinitis -- drug therapy, allergic rhinitis -- drug therapy, visual analogue scale, histamine antagonists, antihistamines, behavioural patterns, medication patterns, real-world data Published in DiRROS: 14.03.2022; Views: 1139; Downloads: 377 Link to file |
2. Safety and efficacy of immunotherapy with the recombinant B-cell epitope-based grass pollen vaccine BM32Verena Niederberger, Angela Neubauer, Philippe Gevaert, Mihaela Zidarn, Margitta Worm, Werner Aberer, Hans Jørgen Malling, Oliver Pfaar, Ludger Klimek, Wolfgang Pfützner, 2018, original scientific article Abstract: Background BM32 is a grass pollen allergy vaccine based on recombinant fusion proteins consisting of nonallergenic peptides from the IgE-binding sites of the 4 major grass pollen allergens and the hepatitis B preS protein. Objective We sought to study the safety and clinical efficacy of immunotherapy (allergen immunotherapy) with BM32 in patients with grass pollen-induced rhinitis and controlled asthma. Methods A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter allergen immunotherapy field study was conducted for 2 grass pollen seasons. After a baseline season, subjects (n = 181) were randomized and received 3 preseasonal injections of either placebo (n = 58) or a low dose (80 [micro]g, n = 60) or high dose (160 [micro]g, n = 63) of BM32 in year 1, respectively, followed by a booster injection in autumn. In the second year, all actively treated subjects received 3 preseasonal injections of the BM32 low dose, and placebo-treated subjects continued with placebo. Clinical efficacy was assessed by using combined symptom medication scores, visual analog scales, Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaires, and asthma symptom scores. Adverse events were graded according to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Allergen-specific antibodies were determined by using ELISA, ImmunoCAP, and ImmunoCAP ISAC. Results Although statistical significance regarding the primary end point was not reached, BM32-treated subjects, when compared with placebo-treated subjects, showed an improvement regarding symptom medication, visual analog scale, Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire, and asthma symptom scores in both treatment years. This was accompanied by an induction of allergen-specific IgG without induction of allergen-specific IgE and a reduction in the seasonally induced increase in allergen-specific IgE levels in year 2. In the first year, more grade 2 reactions were observed in the active (n = 6) versus placebo (n = 1) groups, whereas there was almost no difference in the second year. Conclusions Injections of BM32 induced allergen-specific IgG, improved clinical symptoms of seasonal grass pollen allergy, and were well tolerated. Keywords: allergy, allergen immunotherapy, B-cell epitope-based immunotherapy Published in DiRROS: 17.12.2020; Views: 1737; Downloads: 1044 Full text (3,82 MB) This document has many files! More... |
3. ARIA-EAACI statement on asthma and COVID-19 (June 2, 2020)Jean Bousquet, Marek Jutel, Cezmi A. Akdis, Ludger Klimek, Oliver Pfaar, Kari Nadeau, Thomas Eiwegger, Anna Bedbrook, Ignacio J. Ansotegui, Josep M. Antò i Boquè, Mihaela Zidarn, 2020, other scientific articles Keywords: asthma, covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 Published in DiRROS: 07.10.2020; Views: 2383; Downloads: 1201 Full text (874,62 KB) This document has many files! More... |