Atopic dermatitis in adults: An Australian management consensus.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Atopic dermatitis (AD) has significant negative impact on health-related quality of life, mood, sleep, work productivity and everyday activities. Research into the use of new drugs in the management of AD continues to develop, and international updates and recommendations have been published. However, questions remain in the Australian setting. This consensus aims to provide evidence-based insights and practical advice on the management of adult AD in Australia. METHODS: A panel (five dermatologists and one clinical immunologist) met to review the literature, critically examine clinical questions of relevance to Australian healthcare practitioners and develop a series of recommendation statements. A consensus panel, comprising the initial panel plus nine additional members, used a 2-round Delphi voting process to determine a set of final guidance statements. CONSENSUS: ≥75% agreement in the range 7-9. RESULTS: Round 1 voting comprised 66 guidance statements. Of these, consensus was reached on 26, which were retained, and five were removed. The remainder (35) were modified and one new guidance statement was added for inclusion in round 2 voting. After round 2, consensus was reached on 35, which were retained, and one was removed (considered redundant). The 61 guidance statements upon which consensus was reached were then used to support a series of core consensus recommendations and a management flow chart. CONCLUSIONS: Expert consensus recommendations providing practical guidance of clinical relevance to specialists and primary care physicians in Australia have been developed. Dissemination of this guidance and evaluation of its impact on patient outcomes remain to be undertaken.

Managing atopic dermatitis with systemic therapies in adults and adolescents: An Australian/New Zealand narrative.

With the rapid development of new, targeted therapies for the treatment of moderate/severe atopic dermatitis, it is opportune to review the available conventional systemic agents. We assess the published evidence for systemic therapies for atopic dermatitis and amalgamate this with real-world experience. Discussions are centred on when systemic therapy should be considered, which drug(s), what dose, how to sequence or combine these therapies, how long they should be continued for and what is considered success.

A novel Australian tick Ixodes (Endopalpiger) australiensis inducing mammalian meat allergy after tick bite.

Tick-induced mammalian meat allergy has become an emergent allergy world-wide after van Nunen et al. first described the association between tick bites and the development of mammalian meat allergy in 2007. Cases of mammalian meat allergy have now been reported on all 6 continents where humans are bitten by ticks, in 17 countries - Australia, United States of America (USA), Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy, and Norway), Asia (Korea and Japan), Central America (Panama), South America (Brazil), and Africa (South Africa and Ivory Coast). To date, in each of these countries, bites from only a single tick species have been linked to the development of mammalian meat allergy: Ixodes holocyclus (Australia), Amblyomma americanum (USA), Ixodes ricinus (Europe), and Ixodes cajennense (Panama) are confirmed as culprits, and Ixodes nipponensis (Japan and Korea), Amblyomma sculptum (Brazil), Amblyomma variegatum (Ivory Coast), and Haemaphysalis longicornis (Japan) suspected of provoking mammalian meat allergy after tick bite. Other tick species remain to be formally identified (South Africa). Identification of tick species associated with development of mammalian meat allergy is crucial to the uptake of public health measures to prevent tick bites from culprit tick species, for both individuals living in these tick-endemic areas and those who choose to visit these regions. We report a tick associated with the enhancement of mammalian meat anaphylaxis after tick bite which is novel for both Australia and the world and establishes Ixodes (Endopalpiger) australiensis as a second tick species associated with mammalian meat allergy in Australia.

Anaphylaxis triggered by benzyl benzoate in a preparation of depot testosterone undecanoate.

We report the first case of an anaphylactic reaction to Reandron 1000 (depot testosterone undecanoate with a castor oil and benzyl benzoate vehicle). While considered to have a favourable safety profile, serious complications such as oil embolism and anaphylaxis can occur. In our patient, skin testing identified benzyl benzoate to be the trigger, with no reaction to castor oil or testosterone undecanoate components. As benzyl benzoate exists in multiple pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics, individual components of pharmaceuticals should be tested when investigating drug allergies. Doctors should be alert to the potential for serious reactions to any of the components of Reandron 1000.