What's New on Medscape Allergy & Clinical Immunology?
The World Allergy Organization Congress -- XVIII ICACI in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 7-12, 2003 -- is the next venue for coverage for Medscape Allergy & Clinical Immunology. We are planning to bring you news as well as our CME conference coverage. The main focus for the conference coverage will be on asthma treatment. Stay tuned.
Speaking of CME, asthma was among the topics in the Coverage of the 99th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society, which is still available for those who have not yet read it. Read the articles, take the posttest, and get the free CME.
We continue to amass quite a selection of programs to choose from. We have recently posted a Clinical Update entitled: "Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis and Its Comorbidities" as well as a CME Circle item entitled: "The Suspension Is Over: New Solutions for the Treatment of Asthma." If you have not read the Clinical Update on "Therapeutic Potential of PDE4 Inhibitors in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease," as well as one on "Effect of a Catabolic State With Involuntary Weight Loss on Acute and Chronic Respiratory Disease," I urge you to do so.
We have had a terrific response to the Allergy & Clinical Immunology Ask the Experts program. One recent question covered the "Onset of Cholinergic Urticaria After Bathing." Other ATE items include "Severe Itching in Patients With Acute Cholestatic Hepatitis B" and an "Infant With Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia." Clinicians will continue to see new questions and answers posted as they come from our panel of experts. If you are a physician and have a clinical question, go to the Allergy & Clinical Immunology home page, scroll down to the "Discussions" section, and select the "Submit a Question" link.
Read the latest articles from our Publisher's Circle partners. One of the latest articles, from Chest, is entitled: "Snoring in Preschool Children: Prevalence and Association With Nocturnal Cough and Asthma." Another, from Southern Medical Journal, is entitled: "Asthma Associated With Worsening Leg Ulcer: A Case of Vasculitis In Primary Care," one from Pharmacotherapy is entitled: "Effects of Amphotericin B and Caspofungin on Histamine Expression," and an original article from our own indexed journal, Medscape General Medicine, is entitled: "Low Fasting Serum Triglyceride Level as a Precocious Marker of Autoimmune Disorders."
Do you have a clinical issue that you want to talk to your peers about? Now it is easier than ever to communicate with your fellow Medscape users in your specialty. Share your thoughts -- create new topics, read, and reply -- in the newly designed discussion groups. Check out the clinical discussion topics. We look forward to adding new folders and continuing to build a vital Medscape community through your participation.
Do not forget to read the latest Allergy & Clinical Immunology Journal Scan, which provides a continuous monthly review of interesting and topical journal articles from specialty and general journals. The current edition reviews articles on the effects of diesel on chemokines and chemokine receptors in asthma, histopathology of severe childhood asthma, wheezy bronchitis in childhood, and a determinant of airway reactivity.
One of the next major conferences coming up is the 13th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society in Vienna, Austria, September 27-October 1, 2003. Later on, we have the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 2003 Annual Meeting, taking place November 7-12, 2003 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Remember to register early.
I also urge readers to visit the Asthma Resource Center on the Allergy & Clinical Immunology home page. It contains the most up-to-date information on asthma as well as offering opportunities for CME. Also, the Smoking Resource Center has recently been updated as well. Visit them both!
If you are a physician and have an allergy-related case study that presented a particularly interesting challenge that you would like to post on the site, please send it to me at Allergyeditor@webmd.net. The cases will be presented in an interactive format that links into the discussion section of the site as well, allowing users to comment on the cases.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about what you see on the site or wish to suggest a new program that you would find useful, please feel free to email me at Allergyeditor@webmd.net. If you are experiencing technical difficulties, please contact our customer support staff at Medscapecustomersupport@webmd.net.