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The prevalence of contact allergy to specific allergens differs among countries, as a result of social and environmental characteristics. Patch testing is the gold standard in the diagnosis of contact dermatitis to identify the culprit substance. TRUE Test ® is a ready-to-use patch test system commercialized since 1985, and is used worldwide. As TRUE Test ® does not cover several allergens recommended for the (European) baseline series, clinicians have to test additional allergens separately. Recently, TRUE Test ® added five new allergens. The newly included allergens are gold sodium thiosulfate, bacitracin, parthenolide, Disperse Blue 106, and 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (bronopol). The aim of our study was to evaluate the relevance of these new allergens as a part of our baseline series.We included all patients from seven allergy departments in Spain who had been referred for patch testing with the 34-allergen TRUE Test ® , including the five new allergens, and six additional allergens to cover the recommended standard panel, during 1 year. Readings were performed on day (D)2 and D4, according to ICDGR recommendations. Results were analysed as positive versus negative, and the clinical relevance of positive results was evaluated.One thousand and forty-six patients were included. Of these, 66 patients (6.3%) had a positive result with one or more of the five new allergens. Many positive results were obtained with gold sodium thiosulfate (3.2% of the total sample). Readings were +++ in 8 patients, ++ in 11 patients, and + in 14 patients, respectively, and were

A prospective, multicenter pharmacovigilance study was carried out to evaluate the safety of a new 7-dose treatment schedule of subcutaneous immunotherapy as opposed to the conventional 13 doses normally recommended. The study was carried out in 14 centers and included 261 patients (children and adults) with respiratory allergic disease due to sensitization to mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and/or farinae). A total of 2290 doses were administered under the direct supervision of the participating specialists. One hundred and ten reactions in 63 patients (24.1%) were recorded, representing 4.8% of the total doses administered. Most of the reactions (98) were local. Only 12 were systemic (0.5% of the administered doses) and occurred in 10 patients (3.8% of the sample). Ten reactions reverted quickly with rescue medication. The maintenance dose had to be lowered in one patient and another patient was withdrawn from the study after suffering two asthmatic crises after two consecutive doses. In view of the results obtained, we can conclude that the new schedule shows an acceptable tolerance profile and does not present a greater risk of reactions than the conventional scheme of 13 doses using an identical extract. Moreover, the new schedule represents substantial savings in the number of doses and visits required to reach the maintenance dose.

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