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Hay Fever/Allergic Rhinitis
Published in Charles Theisler, Adjuvant Medical Care, 2023
Hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, is inflammation of nasal mucous membranes in sensitized individuals when inhaled allergenic particles contact those membranes. Basically, the immune system overreacts to the allergens. It is the fifth most common disease in the U.S. Seasonal allergic rhinitis is more common in the spring, summer, and early fall.1 In the spring, for example, weeds, trees, and grasses release pollen that gets into the nose and throat and can trigger an allergy. Signs and symptoms are similar to the common cold and include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, sinus pressure, and red, itchy, and watery eyes. Hay fever can also cause itching of the nose, throat, or the roof of the mouth.
Immunologically Mediated Diseases and Allergic Reactions
Published in Julius P. Kreier, Infection, Resistance, and Immunity, 2022
Kim A. Campbell, Caroline C. Whitacre
Allergic rhinitis (hay fever) is the most common type of immediate hypersensitivity reaction. Hay fever affects between ten to twenty percent of the U.S. population. Hay fever is a misnomer because hay does not cause the problem nor is there any fever associated with the symptomatology. The symptoms of hay fever that occur following exposure to ragweed pollen or other allergens include sneezing, itchy nose, watery eyes, headache, congestion, and sinusitis. Seasonal allergic rhinitis occurs between the months of June and September when concentrations of windborne fungus and pollen from grass, trees, and weeds are greatest. The culprits of perennial rhinitis can include pet hair, dust mites, mold spores, and cockroaches. Bronchial asthma, eczema, urticaria (hives), and food allergies are less common than hay fever but are additional examples of immediate hypersensitivity reactions to environmental allergens.
Contagion and questions
Published in Suman Gupta, Richard Allen, Maitrayee Basu, Fabio Akcelrud Durão, Ayan-Yue Gupta, Milena Katsarska, Sebastian Schuller, John Seed, Peter H. Tu, Social Analysis and the COVID-19 Crisis, 2020
Suman Gupta, Richard Allen, Maitrayee Basu, Fabio Akcelrud Durão, Ayan-Yue Gupta, Milena Katsarska, Sebastian Schuller, John Seed, Peter H. Tu
The trick, of course, is that we think we can prudently avoid the police or the abusive partner or speeding vehicle, but we can’t be sure that we can avoid TB. The initial symptoms are of the sort that everyone has experienced possibly once a year or more – sore throat, coughing, sneezing, low fever, muscle aches – not far from a severe case of hay fever. It is unassuming enough initially to be very close, very possible, almost inside you already. Its very familiarity now suddenly makes everything and everyone suspect; every situation opens up vulnerabilities. Ritualizing preventive measures – wash your hands, cover your mouth, and so on – assume a kind of magical efficacy without guarantees – it’s a bit like salvation: it’s good to do it, but doing it doesn’t mean you will be saved. Inanimate things assume a threatening spirit. Anything with a surface (and what’s a thing without a surface?) suddenly comes alive with bacteria that might kill me, anywhere, in public transport, film halls, school classrooms, shops, protest meetings, offices. A philosophy of ‘social distancing’ develops, avoidance of strangers and foreigners first and then avoidance of friends and comrades. Studied isolation and atomized communication become not just de rigueur but necessary.
Real-world evidence costs of allergic rhinitis and allergy immunotherapy in the commercially insured United States population
Published in Current Medical Research and Opinion, 2021
Joseph P. Tkacz, Karen Rance, Douglas Waddell, Mark Aagren, Eva Hammerby
Allergic rhinitis (AR), also known as hay fever, is a condition in which inflammatory processes stimulated by environmental allergens result in sneezing, airflow obstruction, nasal pruritus, and clear nasal discharge1. Allergic diseases have increased in prevalence across the globe over the past half century, affecting between 10–30% of the world population2, with sensitization rates to common allergens in school-aged children approaching 50%3, As a chronic disease, AR is associated with significant direct costs in the form of disease management, indirect costs in the form of decreases in work productivity, and “hidden” costs associated with the management of comorbidities common to patients with AR4. As such, AR poses a significant economic burden to society, particularly if treatment protocols are not followed5.
Atopic phenotypes and their implication in the atopic march
Published in Expert Review of Clinical Immunology, 2020
Adnan Custovic, Darije Custovic, Blazenka Kljaić Bukvić, Sara Fontanella, Sadia Haider
Still, are there any asthma endotypes with clearly described mechanisms responsible for disease onset, progression, and severity, for which we have biomarkers and mechanism-based treatments to facilitate personalization of treatments? We argue that there is, in the form of hay fever (or allergic airway disease). To begin, we note that multimorbidity patterns may offer clues about causality. Epidemiological studies indicate that asthma patients rarely have asthma only [62], that patients with rhinitis rarely have rhinitis only [63]. Coexisting rhinitis is associated with frequent asthma exacerbation profile [64]. When discussing asthma exacerbations, the focus is usually on virus infections. While virus infections are undoubtedly important, they are not the only trigger of asthma attacks. When investigating the annual patterns of hospital admissions with asthma attack in Manchester, UK, we described two peaks: one, occurring in September associated with rhinovirus infections, and a second peak in June/July, which coincided with high grass pollen level [65]. The risk factors differed, with most acute attacks in summer occurring in children sensitized to pollen. It seems very likely that children admitted to hospital during the June/July have a different type of asthma than those who experience exacerbation in autumn, yet both are treated in the same way.
A systematic review of morbidities suggestive of the multiple sclerosis prodrome
Published in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 2020
Fardowsa L.A. Yusuf, Bryan C. Ng, José M.A. Wijnands, Elaine Kingwell, Ruth Ann Marrie, Helen Tremlett
Results from four studies [24,30–32] with quality scores ranging from 4 to 6 showed allergies were more prevalent before MS onset (three studies) or MS diagnosis (one study). An Iranian study found that the 1,217 MS cases had nearly twice the odds of self-reporting an allergy before MS onset than did 787 controls before a comparable date (age and sex adjusted OR:1.92, 95%CI:1.55–2.47) [30]. A Mexican study found MS cases (n = 94) were more likely than controls (n = 210) to report having had childhood eczema (using the definition of ‘a chronic allergic reaction of the skin’) before MS onset or diagnosis (OR:4.6, 95%CI:2.5–8.6) [24]. In an Australian study, MS cases (n = 136) were more likely than community controls (n = 272) to report having asthma in the years preceding MS onset or the equivalent date (OR:1.97, 95%CI:1.10–3.51) [31]. However, hay fever was equally likely to be reported by MS cases and controls (OR:1.07, 95%CI:0.67–1.71) [31]. In an Israeli study 9% of 241 MS cases and 3% of controls (matched 1:4 with the MS cases by age, sex and region) self-reported as having an allergy before the age of 15 (chi-squared test, p < 0.001) [32].