Allergen Immunotherapy Demonstrates Cost Savings among Children with Allergic Rhinitis - Significant Savings Seen within Three Months

In a recent study, authors examined Florida Medicaid data to compare health services use and costs between nearly 3,000 children newly diagnosed with allergic rhinitis (AR) who received allergen immunotherapy (IT) to a matched group of approximately 11,000 children with AR who did not receive IT. At 18 months, children with AR who received IT had one third lower total median health care costs than children with AR who did not receive IT, $3,247 versus $4,872. Outpatient costs were 58% lower and pharmacy costs were 16% lower for children who received versus did not receive IT. These significant health care savings were evident as early as 3 months following IT initiation, and increased throughout the study period. "This is great news, not only for families who will experience fewer out-of-pocket expenses for allergy medications, but also for the ever increasing national health care crisis " . . read more.

Time In Chlorinated Pools Ups Teens’ Asthma Risk

Teenagers who spent more than 1,000 hours swimming in chlorinated pools had more than eight times the asthma risk than subjects who swam in copper-silver disinfected pools, according to a study in Pediatrics. Scientists enrolled 847 subjects from 13 to 18 years old who had visited indoor or outdoor swimming pools. Of the 847, 114 mainly visited copper-silver disinfected pools; 733 visited chlorine-disinfected pools. The number of subjects who had ever had asthma increased in proportion to their chlorine-disinfected pool exposure. And risk of current asthma was more than eight times higher in the group with more than 1,000 hours in chlorine-disinfected pools compared with subjects who were rarely in chlorinated water. . read more.