Lifetime annual incidence trends in chronic urticaria: an 18-year follow-up study of 40 253 cases Eun Kyo Ha, Ju Hee Kim, Jeewon Shin, Won Seok Lee, Boeun Han, et al. British Journal of Dermatology, 2025 The incidence of chronic urticaria has risen significantly in Korea, particularly among children and women, as revealed by an 18-year cohort study using the Korean Health Insurance database. These findings emphasize the importance of enhanced clinical management and increased awareness of chronic urticaria’s growing impact.
Changes of Clinical Practice Patterns of Allergen Immunotherapy in Korea Hwa Young Lee, Sung-Yoon Kang, Kyunghoon Kim, Ju Hee Kim, Gwanghui Ryu, et al. Allergy Asthma and Immunology Research, 2025 This study aimed to identify recent changes of AIT treatment behaviors in real-world clinical practice using a questionnaire survey in Korea. The questionnaire on AIT prescriptions and practical experiences was distributed to all members of the Korean Academy of Asthma Allergy and Clinical Immunology in June 2022. The responses were analyzed and compared with the results from 2009 and 2017. In total, 115 responses (10.1%) were collected; 58 (50.4%) from internal medicine, 34 (29.6%) from pediatricians, and 21 (18.3%) from otolaryngologists. The prescription rate for subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) was 53.8%, showing a decrease from those in 2009 and 2017; however, that for sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) increased steadily, reaching 17.9% in 2009, 40.3% in 2017, and 46.2% in 2022. The prescription rates for asthma and atopic dermatitis increased by 4.6% and 7.9%, respectively. The most frequently prescribed allergens for SCIT in 2022 were house dust mites (32.9%), pollen (30.6%), and animal dander (28.2%), with the rate for animal dander showing a significant increase from 10.3% in 2009. Most physicians (93%) used mixed allergens for SCIT, with 42.8% using a combination of 5 or more allergens. Fifty-eight (67.4%) respondents reported cases of anaphylaxis during SCIT and 36.2% reported systemic adverse reactions during SLIT. In conclusion, SLIT prescriptions, AIT for asthma and atopic dermatitis, and AIT with animal dander increased significantly from 2009 to 2022. Serial surveys of AIT practices are helpful in identifying the changes of real-world clinical practice of AIT.
Diverse weaning foods and diet patterns at multiple time points during infancy period and their association with neurodevelopmental outcomes in 6-year-old children Ju Hee Kim, Eun Kyo Ha, Gi Chun Lee, Boeun Han, Jeewon Shin, et al. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2025 Background/Objectives Understanding the impact of early-life nutritional choices on neurodevelopment in children is a growing area of research. To investigate the association between dietary patterns at multiple timelines and neurodevelopmental outcomes in 6-year-old children. Subjects/Methods This administrative observational study utilized a merged data from the national health insurance database and the health screening program for children. Information on the diet patterns from infancy to 3 years of age was obtained from parent-administered questionnaires. Dietary pattern clusters of the participants were identified using Polytomous Latent Class Analysis. The outcome was neurodevelopment using the Korean Developmental Screening Test (K-DST) at the age of 6 years. Results The study identified four distinct clusters among with the 133,243 eligible children (49.6% male, birth weight 3.22 kg, head circumference 42.7 cm at 4 months). The control cluster (53.4%) exhibited a diet including breast milk feeding and a variety of dietary patterns at the age of 1 year. In contrast, cluster 1 (36.0%) showed a skewed dietary pattern at the same age. Cluster 2 (6.6%) displayed diverse dietary patterns at one year but primarily consumed formula at four months, while cluster 3 (4.0%) had reduced dietary diversity and formula feeding. Compared with the control cluster, the adjusted odds ratio for unfavorable development was 1.209 (95% CI, 1.156–1.266) in cluster 1, 1.418 (95% CI, 1.312–1.532) in cluster 2, and 1.741 (95% CI, 1.593–1.903) in cluster 3. These findings remained consistent across individual domains of the K-DST. Conclusions Dietary patterns during infancy and early childhood may be associated with neurodevelopment at the age of 6 years.
