What's New
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Allergy and Immunology - Other general allergy and immunology
New naming convention for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (January 2022)
The number of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) continues to increase. In order to reduce sound-alikes and specify structural components of the immunoglobulins, the World Health Organization International Nonproprietary Names (INN) Programme has developed four new suffixes to be used instead of "mab" for antibodies developed from 2022 onward.2 Unmodified immunoglobulins will end in "tug"; mAbs with an engineered constant region will end in "bart"; bifunctional mAbs will end in "mig"; and variable region fragments will end in "ment."
Primary Care - Immunizations
Missed opportunities for influenza vaccination (January 2022)
Influenza vaccination rates remain suboptimal. In a retrospective study including more than 31 million Medicare beneficiaries >19 years of age in the United States during the 2018 to 2019 influenza season, vaccination claims were filed for only 50 percent of individuals.3 Vaccination uptake was higher among White beneficiaries than Black or Hispanic beneficiaries (53, 35, and 30 percent, respectively), and was higher for those with high-risk conditions than for those without (56 versus 27 percent, respectively). Among unvaccinated beneficiaries overall, 77 percent visited a provider during influenza season. A comprehensive strategy leveraging all opportunities for vaccination is needed to improve influenza vaccine uptake.
Family Medicine - Obstetrics
Impact of cannabis use on pregnancy outcomes (January 2022)
As cannabis use continues to increase, more information regarding its impact on pregnancy outcomes has become available. A retrospective cohort study of over 32,500 pregnant individuals reported that prenatal cannabis use was associated with an approximately 30 percent increase in risk of low birth weight and small for gestational age infants compared with non-use.4 The study controlled for cigarette use, but ascertainment of cannabis use by self-report was a limitation. We and several medical societies continue to advise against cannabis use in pregnancy because of potential adverse pregnancy and childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Allergy and Immunology - Food Allergy and Intolerance
Peanut oral immunotherapy in children less than four years of age (January 2022)
Data suggest the efficacy of peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) increases as the age at treatment onset decreases. This finding was confirmed in a prespecified subset of children <4 years of age who were part of a trial of children with peanut allergy randomly assigned to peanut OIT (minimum daily maintenance dose target 250 mg, maximum 2000 mg) or placebo.1 In these younger patients, desensitization after two years of maintenance therapy and sustained unresponsiveness (SU) after six months of avoidance was reported in 71 and 21 percent versus 2 and 2 percent in the treatment and placebo groups, respectively. Whether those with SU have developed permanent tolerance or whether additional children would develop SU after a longer course of maintenance therapy remains to be determined.
1. Jones SM, Kim EH, Nadeau KC, et al Efficacy and safety of oral immunotherapy in children aged 1-3 years with peanut allergy (the Immune Tolerance Network IMPACT trial): a randomised placebo-controlled study. Lancet 2022; 399:359. [Context Link]
2. Balocco R, De Sousa Guimaraes Koch S, Thorpe R, et al New INN nomenclature for monoclonal antibodies. Lancet 2022; 399:24. [Context Link]
3. Cho BH, Weinbaum C, Tsai Y, Koppaka R. Influenza Vaccine Uptake and Missed Opportunities Among the Medicare-Covered Population With High-Risk Conditions During the 2018 to 2019 Influenza Season : A Retrospective Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med 2022; 175:1. [Context Link]
4. Nguyen VH, Harley KG. Prenatal Cannabis Use and Infant Birth Outcomes in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. J Pediatr 2022; 240:87. [Context Link]
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