Cover Article
New Nasal Flu Vaccine Safe for Young Children
This year, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is recommending that all children ages 6 to 23 months receive the influenza vaccination—an addition to prior recommendations for high-risk children older than 6 months. A new nasal administration of the vaccine may help to raise traditionally low compliance levels.

Selected Articles

• Asthma: A Hetergeneous Disease?
• Nursing Home-Acquired Pneumonia: New Management Guidelines
• Peptide Deficiency May Explain Skin Infections in Atopic Dermatitis
• Asthma Linked With Migraines
• Emphysema-like Changes Seen in Pediatric Asthma
• Dopamine Agonists: A Future in Smoking Cessation?

Cover Article
Pets: Good or Bad for Allergies and Asthma?
The controversy continues over whether early exposure to household pets helps protect against the development of allergies and asthma. Three new studies look at how the presence of animals might effect sensitization and tolerance by age 6 or 7.

Selected Articles

• Smallpox Vaccine and Atopic Dermatitis
• Gene Therapy at Work in the Lungs
• Bacteria Do Contribute to COPD Exacerbations
• Psychological and Environmental Impacts of September 11 on Worsening Asthma
• C Pneumoniae Aggravates Chronic Bronchitis
• Behavioral Symptoms Linked to Steroid Dose

Cover Article
Clearing the Air on In-Flight Cold Transmission
Looks like you probably won’t catch cabin fever from that passenger in seat 17F. A recent study on the quality of aircraft cabin air found that the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections was not increased among passengers of commercial flights. In fact, in some respects, the quality of recirculated air on planes surpassed that in office buildings.

Selected Articles

• Efforts to Control COPD Falling Short
• Combined Therapy Eases Cold Symptoms
• Preventing Asthma-Related ED Readmission
• Are Childhood Asthma Rates Plateauing?
• Bronchial Challenge: No Diluent Needed?
• What Constitutes an Acceptable Outcome in Lung Cancer Surgery?

Cover Article
Asthma Guideline Update Focuses on Children
The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program updated its Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. Primary care physicians, family practitioners, and pediatricians should take special note of the new recommendations dealing with long-term management of asthma in children.

Selected Articles

• The Apnea-Hypopnea Index: Useful or Useless?
• People Who Need Asthma Therapy Aren’t Getting It
• Inhaled Steroids for COPD: The Debate Continues
• Allergies Linked to Panic Attacks
• Mast Cells Contribute to Development of Asthma
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Exploring the Connection Between Asthma and Anxiety
The mechanics of the relationship between mind and body in asthma is complex and a source of debate. Is anxiety a marker for more severe attacks? Or do the attacks cause patients to become anxious? Two recent studies offer insight on the link between anxiety and hospitalization and on the psychological effects of an attack.

Selected Articles

• Is Dyspnea Better Than FEV1 for Evaluating COPD?
• Antiseptic Hand Gels Provide Inadequate Hand Hygiene
• Risk Factors for Near-Fatal Asthma Identified
• Experimental Antrax Vaccine Given Nasally
• Increased Drug Use Linked to Undiagnosed Apnea
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Particulate Pollution’s Toll: Higher Than We Knew
Although the link between acute exposure to fine particulates and cardiopulmonary mortality has been established, the health risks of chronic exposure to particulate pollution have been less well defined. A recent study demonstrates that long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution elevates both cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality.

Selected Articles

• Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Insulin Resistance Linked
• NSAID Intolerance: An Autoreactive Disorder?
• Chronic Cough Update: Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment
• Allergen Plus Virus Exacerbates Asthma
• Global Warming May Increase Allergy Rates
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Latex-Allergic Patients May React to Fruits, Too
There are many questions surrounding the apparent connection between latex and fruit allergies. An expert panel addresses some of these issues, such as: Which allergy comes first? Should patients avoid all cross-reacting foods? Is immunotherapy effective for latex allergy?

Selected Articles

• Air Pollution Linked to Asthma Development
• Of Mice and Myiasis
• Allergic Disease Influenced by Many Factors
• Anaphylaxis: Still a Medical Mystery
• When Cure Becomes Cause: Pulmonary Drug Reactions
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Ozone, Sports Raise Children's Asthma Risk
It is well known that air pollution triggers already existing asthma. Now, however, one study points to an association between high-ozone areas and newly diagnosed asthma in children playing high-activity sports.

Selected Articles

• Low Symptom Perception Heightens Asthma Risk
• CPAP Lowers BP in Sleep Apnea Patients
• CPR Is Usually Futile in Those With PAH
• Iron Lung as Effective as NIPPV
• Alcohol Consumption Increases Serum IgE Levels
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Has Chemotherapy Reached Its Limit for Lung Cancer?
Chemotherapy for advanced lung cancer has taken a few more steps forward, two recent studies show. However, their results also suggest that we may have reached the limit of what chemotherapy can do for patients with this deadly disease.

Selected Articles

• Nebulized Lidocaine: An Option for Severe Asthma?
• Parents’ Disapproval Can Stop Children’s Smoking
• Intranasal Heparin Combats Allergic Rhinitis
• Rapid Test Enhances Flu Surveillance
• Flu Vaccine Is Safe for Asthma Patients
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Smoking During Pregnancy: Even Worse Than You Think
New data bolsters already staggering evidence linking in utero exposure to cigarette smoke with long-term health impairments. In addition to its established dangers to the fetus, maternal smoking during pregnancy has now been shown to increase the risks for diabetes and obesity, criminal behavior, and substance abuse in adults.

Selected Articles

• Interrupting Chest Compressions During CPR May Be Harmful
• Pleconaril Attenuates Cold Symptoms
• Nationwide Racial Disparity in Allergen Sensitivity Discovered
• Airway Vessels: New Target for Asthma Therapies?
• Moving Alters Polution’s Effect on Lung Growth
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Can Home Sleep Studies Replace Polysomnography?
Some experts have suggested that polysomnography performed in a sleep laboratory is no longer necessary to detect sleep-disordered breathing because simpler home studies are sufficient. Not everyone agrees, though.

Selected Articles

• Managing Heart Failure in Patients With Pulmonary Disease
• Alternative Therapy Use Prevalent for Asthma, Rhinosinusitis
• Conference News Update: 2001 Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunololgy
• RSV Is an Adult Virus, Too
• Enzyme Kills Streptococci in Oropharynx
• Literature Monitor

Cover Article
Ground Zero: Assessing the Respiratory Impact
On September 11, 2001, more than 11,500 firefighters were exposed to the collapse of the World Trade Center and the massive blaze at "Ground Zero." However, some small measure of good may come out of that dreadful day: In treating the 20% to 30% of workers who have developed cough and other respiratory symptoms, health care providers are gaining an improved understanding of how intense exposures to airborne pollutants affects respiratory function in healthy individuals.

Selected Articles

• First-Line Antibiotics Reduce Acute Sinusitis Rx Costs
• Early Exposure to Farms Lowers Allergy, Asthma Risk
• Early Inhaled Tobramycin for Pseudomonas in CF
• Exhaled NO Predicts Poor Asthma Control
• Prenatal Nicotine Impairs Lung Function
• Literature Monitor