ambrosia/fever

Vector-borne diseases transmitted by mosquitoes cause globally important diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and filariasis. The incidence of these diseases can be reduced through mosquito control programs but these control programs currently rely on synthetic insecticides that can impact the

OBJECTIVE Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, is a highly allergenic annual herbaceous plant that is spreading quickly across the globe. Few studies have investigated the relationship between ragweed pollen counts and hay fever symptoms. We investigate the dose-response relationship between ragweed

One high potency (HP) and two low potency (LP) commercial whole short ragweed (WSR) extracts were assayed for relative potency (RP) by antigen E (AgE-Amb a 1), RAST inhibition, and parallel line bioassay (PLBA). The RP of the HP extract (300 micrograms AgE) was equal to the reference WSR, but the LP

Urea-denatured antigen E (UDE) has lost the major determinants of antigen E (AgE), eliciting neither IgE nor IgG antibodies to native AgE in mice. UDE, however, stimulates T cells so that repeated injections result in specific but partial suppression of ongoing IgE responses to native AgE. An

Specific IgE anti-ragweed antibodies (IgEAR) were measured over two years in two groups of highly sensitive patients treated (immunized) with either ragweed extract or placebo and in a third group of placebo-treated, relatively insensitive patients. The IgEAR on the patients' basophils were assessed

Previous studies of intranasal immunotherapy have not included control groups treated with an irrelevant allergen. In the present double-blind study, we tested the effectiveness of intranasal immunotherapy in 20 patients sensitive to both short ragweed (SRW) and orchard grass (OG). Patients sprayed

Sixty-two volunteer hay fever patients participated in a 2-week trial which examined the protective effect of the cyclooxygenase-inhibiting drug flurbiprofen. The drug suppressed symptom severity significantly, though it was not as protective as the antihistamine also employed in the trial.

Seasonal changes in IgE antibodies and their relationship to IgG antibodies were studied in 52 patients with ragweed hay fever and 10 normal controls. Allergic patients received either no immunotherapy, preseasonal immunotherapy, or high dose perennial immunotherapy with aqueous-mixed ragweed

Flunisolide, a new synthetic fluorinated corticosteroid, was administered as a nasal spray via a squeeze bottle to patients with ragweed hay fever for 4 wk during the hay fever season. Fifty-one patients, paired on the basis of similar skin sensitivity to intradermal ragweed (greater than or equal

Clinical ragweed pollenosis (hay fever) and IgE antibody production specific for antigen E (the major purified protein antigen from ragweed pollen extract) correlated closely with HL-A haplotypes in successive generations of seven families. HL-A associated IgE antibody responsiveness was antigen

This report describes the immune response of patients with ragweed hay fever treated with polymerized ragweed antigens (PRW). Their IgG antibody responses to crude ragweed extract, antigen E, antigen K, and antigen Ra3 were determined by a solid-phase radioimmunoassay. The results indicate that PRW

In 1969 and 1970, groups of patients with ragweed hay fever never before treated were started on preseasonal course of immunization with an alum precipitate of aqueous ragweed extract. A comparison between these two groups of patients and a similar group of patients treated with unprecipitated

Intranasal administration of a 4% solution of cromolyn sodium for the treatment of ragweed hay fever was tested in an 8-week double-blind matched-pair study involving 66 patients. Patients on active drug received 5.2 mg into each nostril 6 times daily; control patients received a placebo spray. The

Forty-two ragweed hay fever patients participated in a study which examined the profile of symptom relief provided by terfenadine, and the relative adequacy of symptom control with the drug given from the beginning of the season compared with treatment started after symptoms were well established.

Immunotherapy with ragweed allergoid administered in a clustered regimen, placebos in a clustered regimen, and unaltered ragweed extract (allergen) in a weekly regimen were compared in three groups of hay fever patients carefully matched for ragweed sensitivity. The allergoid and placebo comparison