This was descriptive study carried out in a medium-sized Brazilian city. In ≤ 15-year-old contacts of index cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis, we assessed compliance with the Brazilian national guidelines for tuberculosis control. We interviewed 43 contacts and their legal guardians. Approximately 80% of the contacts were not assessed by the municipal public health care system, and only 21...

BACKGROUND The relationship between infant feeding and childhood asthma is controversial. This study tested the hypothesis that the relation between breast feeding and childhood asthma is altered by the presence of maternal asthma. METHODS Healthy non-selected newborn infants (n = 1246) were enrolled at birth. Asthma was defined as a physician diagnosis of asthma plus asthma symptoms reported...

BACKGROUND There are numerous, disparate guidelines for influenza vaccination in egg-allergic patients. We aimed to describe the outcome of selectively applied guidelines, based on risk-stratification, to our high risk, egg-allergic, tertiary-care pediatric population. METHODS Egg allergy was confirmed with skin testing. The vaccine administered was an adjuvunated 2009 H1N1 influenza A vaccin...

The determination of specific IgE in patients with history of penicillins hypersensitivity is simple, safe and widely available. The positive and negative predictive values of this determination, however, are not yet established. In order to evaluate them, we performed specific IgE determination and diagnostic drug challenges in a group of 22 patients with a clear history of immediate penicilli...

Guinea pigs sensitized by repeated skin testing with potent, merthiolated coccidioidin, equal to Smith standard, exhibited erythema, edema, and an induration-like reaction to intradermal injection of the preparation. No statistically significant migration inhibition of peritoneal exudate macrophages from these animals was observed.

An effect of parasites on host behaviour was tested on the toxoplasma-human model. Three hundred and thirty-eight (338) people were assessed with Cattell's personality questionnaire and then tested for Toxoplasma gondii infection with a delayed type hypersensitivity test for Toxoplasma. A highly significant correlation between chronic toxoplasmosis and two personality factors (G-Low Superego St...

PERIOPERATIVE anaphylaxis may be a life-threatening clinical condition and is typically a result of drugs or substances used for anesthesia or surgery. After anaphylaxis, allergologic assessment is essential to identify the offending agent and prevent recurrences, because no preemptive therapeutic strategies exist. This review seeks to (1) identify the clinical diagnostic pathway necessary to d...

Background Hymenoptera venom immunotherapy (VIT) is a clinically effective treatment. However, little is known about its long-term clinical efficacy and biological effects. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for VIT efficacy, including reduction of specific IgE and induction of allergen-specific IgG4, but the overall picture remains elusive. We investigated Vespula VIT clinical ef...

CONTEXT Clinicians frequently withhold antibiotics that contain penicillin based on patients' self-reported clinical history of an adverse reaction to penicillin and the clinicians' own misunderstandings about the characteristics of a true penicillin allergy. OBJECTIVES To determine the likelihood of true penicillin allergy with consideration of clinical history and to evaluate the diagnostic...