This summary was compiled from the tweets posted by allergists/immunologists who attended the EAACI-WAO Congress 2013. The tweets were labeled #eaaciwao2013. The text was edited and modified by me.Linda Cox (USA) and Dario Antolin (Spain) discussed venom immunotherapy.
Venom immunotherapy (VIT) is the most effective form of immunotherapy, but is associated with a 20% rate of adverse reactions.
VIT may be pursued in patients on beta-blockers, as benefit outweighs risk.
Patients with mastocytosis are at higher risk of severe reaction to venom (sting or VIT), but the risk may be mitigated by omalizumab. Baseline tryptase should be checked for all patients with systemic reactions to venom.
Local reactions during VIT can be reduced with antihistamines or LTRA (montelukast).
Diagnosis
History, skin test and sIgE form the basis of the diagnosis. Microsyringe injection with unfiltered venom can be a proxy for stinging.
Component resolved diagnostics has been used in the evaluation of patients with venom hypersensitivity.
Duration of SCIT
There is a general consensus that 5 years is better than 3 for venom immunotherapy.
VIT should be continued for 3-5 years (5 is better). 10 years after discontinuation, there is 10% risk of systemic reactions.
Patients who react during VIT should likely stay on VIT for life.
Allergists are on Twitter - follow them
Allergists increased use of Twitter by 470% between 2011 and 2012. The service is very efficient in spreading the news from the annual scientific meetings, for example, 25 allergists reached 250,000 individuals from the 2012 #AAAAI meeting (see the references here).
This summary was compiled from some of the tweets posted by the following allergists:
Allergy Nurse @AllergyNurseUK
Sakina Bajowala, M.D @allergistmommy
This is a list of the allergists who used Twitter to post updates from the 2013 #AAAAI meeting. The list is open for edit, please feel free to add your own info.