Omalizumab Is Associated with Reduced Acute Severity of Rhinovirus-triggered Asthma Exacerbation

Abstract

all claims-based ICU studies are still using ICD-9 codes. Although we would not expect the ICD-10 crosswalk to yield different results, future studies are needed to address this issue.On the basis of these findings, we recommend that researchers can use ICD-9 procedure codes for mechanical ventilation alone to identify populations of mechanically ventilated patients in administrative data, with the understanding that the population captured will not represent the entire population of mechanically ventilated patients. These data suggest that researchers can be confident that identified patients will have truly been ventilated and will help characterize the patients who may have been missed by ICD-9 procedure codes. n

Reply

“…In a forthcoming study, we report a strong association between omalizumab treatment and reduced severity of rhinovirus-triggered acute asthma exacerbation. 9 Our study adds to previous findings that omalizumab reduces the risk of seasonal asthma exacerbation, 10,11 and provides the first evidence that IgE-targeted therapy might directly modify the phenotype of asthma exacerbation caused by an infectious trigger.…”

New Insights into Cockroach Allergens

“…This increase was significantly greater than that observed in virus negative subjects. A subset of children who had received treatment with omalizumab within 4 weeks before study enrollment, presented significant reduction of acute severity of rhinovirus-triggered asthma exacerbation, reduction in the time to every-2-hours albuterol, and decrease in hospital length of stay ●[32]. In keeping with these observations, high titers of IgE antibody to dust mite allergen were associated with increased risk for acute wheezing provoked by rhinovirus among asthmatic children [33].…”

Promising approaches for the treatment and prevention of viral respiratory illnesses

“…21 Interestingly, omalizumab, an anti-IgE mAb, prevents asthma exacerbations either by decreasing the duration and shedding of rhinovirus infection or by blocking the synergistic effect of rhinovirus infection on allergy. 29,30 Because high-affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) cross-linking on plasmacytoid dendritic cells reduces IFN-a responses after viral infections, it is plausible that omalizumab enhances virus-induced IFN-a production in asthmatic patients, thus limiting virus spreading and infection severity. 31 ''Severe cytokine storm,'' an entity associated with markedly higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines, has been associated with severe influenza infections; immunomodulatory agents have been proposed as potential therapeutic strategies.…”