Urticaria (hives) - top articles for January-February 2014

Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles about urticaria for January-February 2014:

Drug allergy to antihistamines? Here's a method for drug challenge: http://goo.gl/stXrk

Basophil activation test and autologous serum skin test are NOT overlapping tests in chronic urticaria http://goo.gl/a92Ty

Calcineurin inhibitors in chronic urticaria: Tacrolimus is an alternative to cyclosporine, different adverse effects http://goo.gl/6X3sU

Clinical Allergy and Immunology - 2011 free full text review in Ulster Med J. http://goo.gl/1GE0o

Omalizumab is an effective and well tolerated drug in antihistamine-resistant chronic urticaria (review) http://goo.gl/uq8UC

Know your local population: HCV infection plays a significant role in urticaria in Saudi Arabia despite normal LFTs http://buff.ly/Py7m9o

New opioid ĸ-receptor agonist nalfurafine suppresses intractable pruritus in hemodialysis patients http://bit.ly/NvB6yJ

Hives and Heat Rash http://goo.gl/MHKel

Sun Rash, "Sun Allergy", and Solar Urticaria http://goo.gl/UnyLz

Don't to miss autoinflammatory diseases masquerading as urticaria http://buff.ly/P4xN4j

Mugwort sensitization was associated with chronic urticaria, and could explain the benefit of elimination diets http://buff.ly/R8YAQE

2 cases of refractory delayed-pressure urticaria responded "spectacularly" to IL-1–receptor antagonist anakinra http://buff.ly/QWKFZZ

Pathogenesis of Cholinergic Urticaria in Relation to Sweating - checking for hypersensitivity to autologous sweat is the first step http://buff.ly/Sb5fu0

EAACI taskforce position paper: evidence for autoimmune urticaria and proposal for defining diagnostic criteria http://buff.ly/Ylx3zf

Psychosocial factors may contribute to chronic spontaneous urticaria http://buff.ly/V3eR7l

Xolair: Not Just for Asthma. Some insurers will pay for Xolair on a case-by-case basis for chronic urticaria. http://buff.ly/10GkYXZ

"Are you going to see urticaria in the future?" - ACAAI http://buff.ly/10xJPHL

Genentech plans to seek FDA approval of Xolair for chronic hives http://buff.ly/ZMjMNT



The articles were selected from Twitter @Allergy and RSS subscriptions. Some of the top allergy accounts on Twitter contributed links. I appreciate the curation provided by @Aller_MD @AllergyNet @IgECPD @DrAnneEllis @AACMaven @AllergieVoeding @allergistmommy @mrathkopf @wheezemd.

Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to allergycases AT gmail DOT com and you will receive an acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.

Image source: Urticaria, Wikipedia, public domain.