Twitter Updates from the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI)

Press releases from the annual AAAAI meeting (ongoing now) are available here: http://is.gd/nnGf

Twitter updates by some of the attendees can be found on Twitter search using the search term "AAAAI" or the hashtag #AAAAI. A few selected Twitter posts (also called tweets or updates) are listed below. I will update the list as more updates are added during the conference.

From wheezemd:

Major changes at the AAAAI meeting. One can tell the cutbacks by the pharma companies.
Allergists in a state of funk-the economy and health care reform - it's the unknown that leads to stress.
Is the Medical Home concept just another name for a new gatekeeper system?
At AAAAI plenary session on food allergy. Few common allergens with high cross-reactivity. Example fish.
#AAAAI peanut allergen Ara h 2 and 6 not affected by heat and heat increases antigenicity Ara h 1 in some patients.
#AAAAI Ara h 1 doesn't lose antigenicity by gastic digestion.
At World Allergy Journal meeting. Need for manuscripts for the online journal.
Interesting study combining an intranasal steroid and an intranasal antihistamine showing added benefit in allergic rhinitis.

From JoyHCN:

The AAAAI Saturday morning Plenary: Food Allergy: State of the Science is PACKED!!
AAAAI press room is bare bones this year. But it's kind of cool to get all the materials on a thumb drive rather than a heavy conf book
Dr. Bischoff: Future therapies for food allergy may include probiotics and intestinal therapies... #AAAAI
Extrapolated FDA numbers show there r about 125K food allergy related visits to the ER annually, 14K of which r due 2 anaphylaxis #AAAAI
Sampson: Skin prick tests and IgE tests alone wil likely way over diagnose food allergies. #AAAAI #food allergy
Sampson: Without a complete or reliable medical history, a food challenge test is necessary to Dx food allergies #AAAAI
As Sampson has said many times b4, yes, it is possible to outgrow food allergies, milk and egg most commonly outgrown #AAAAI
Peanut, tree nut and shellfish allergies, though, are less commonly outgrown, thought it's still possible #AAAAI
#AAAAI sitting among all these docs, furiously typing on my laptop to Tweet, I'm getting some funny looks LOL!
As b4, the best food allergy therapy is still strict avoidance and carrying epinephrine. Sorry food allergy plp, same old same old #AAAAI
Audio & video recording of educational sessions @ #AAAAI is prohibited; Assume that DOESN'T include blogging/tweeting
For those who want 2 B research cool, a "murine model" just means research in mice
The first state to have more than 25% of its adult pop obese was Mississippi in 2001. By 2007, the "thinnest" state was CO w/15%-20% obesity
Have 2 admit that Tweeting live is a lil distracting. Paying more attention 2 what's happening on Twitter than 2 the speaker. Hmm...
Overheard a doc 2 another doc "I'm looking for earth shattering. I want u to tell me something & I go wow! There's no wow this year" #AAAAI
"Give me something I can take back to NY that I can use to help my patients. I haven't seen that yet here" #AAAAI
Makes me wonder, what role do conferences serve now when people can get new info instantaneously on Twitter, RSS feeds, mag subs etc? #AAAAI
Excellent point. There is no substitute for a face to face meeting, so I think conferences are still useful. @allergicgirl #AAAAI
There are some successful, but small, studies being done on the use of traditional Chinese medicine on food allergies & eczema #AAAAI
DO NOT try food allergy challenges at home! Can incredibly dangerous, Dr. A. Wesley Burks. Also see http://tinyurl.com/bpnpuo #AAAAI
Burks: In the next few years, there will likely B "active treatment" 4 food allergies besides strict avoidance, today's only therapy #AAAAI
So far, the most interesting things have bn early success of Mt. Sinai's trad Chinese med studies on food allergy, asthma, eczema #AAAAI
FYI, the gold standard test for food allergies is a doctor supervised food challenge. Pretty scary gold standard #AAAAI
Dr. Wood disagrees with Dr. Burks: he says an FDA-approved therapy for food allergies is well more than 10 years away #AAAAI
Fish & Shellfish r most common food allergy in U.S. considering all ages. In children, milk & egg allergy r most common, NOT peanut #AAAAI
U wanna prevent a deadly food allergy anaphylaxis rxn: "No epi, no eatie!" Always have an epi pen and know how to use it #AAAAI
Study of 4 child asthma deaths: all overused rescue inhalers, none had asthma action plan, none consistently used controller meds #AAAAI
1 boy, 14 yo, African American, died WHILE USING his albuterol nebulizer! Had stayed home from school previous day b/c of asthma. #AAAAI
Also, 33% of asthma-related fatalities happened in patients classified as having MILD disease (according to a 1992 Australian study) #AAAAI
ER docs might be part of the food allergy fatality problem: many mistake anaphylaxis allergic rxns 4 asthma attacks & mistreat #AAAAI
Take home notes: ER docs & PCP should B aware of any allergies their asthmatic patients have as a rxn may B anaphylaxis, not asthma #AAAAI
Have food allergies, go nowhere & eat nothing w/o having an epi pen on u. Fatal rxns more likely in plp who had mild rxns B4 #AAAAI
Uncontrolled asthma is #1 factor in fatal allergy shot rxns. Docs should reconsider admin of shots if pt's asthma isn't controlled #AAAAI
What's your asthma personality? Your life may depend on it http://tinyurl.com/9wc8dw #AAAAI
Take home note: Asthmatic kids (& adults) should have an asthma action plan at school. http://tinyurl.com/c5rych #AAAAI
"Asthma is a nighttime disease b/c some protective effects, corticosteroids & adrenalin, diminish @ night," Busse #AAAAI

References:
Science Conference Coverage with Twitter
Twitter Updates from the Severe Asthma Workshop at the 2008 Annual Meeting of American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI)
Photos: 2008 Annual ACAAI Meeting in Seattle, Washington, November 6-11

Updated: 03/16/2009