Pharmaceuticals Policy and Law - Volume 10, issue 1-4

Authors: Montserrat, A.

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 81-85, 2008

Authors: Mikolášik, Miroslav

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 87-89, 2008

Authors: Antilla, K.

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 93-98, 2008

Authors: Boyle, J.M. | Buckley, R.H.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Rationale: Although health surveys are routinely used to estimate the population incidence and prevalence of many chronic and acute conditions in the US population, they have infrequently been used for "rare" conditions such as primary immunodeficiency diseases (PID). Accurate prevalence measures are needed to separate the truly rare condition from those that primary care doctors are likely to see in their practices today, if early diagnosis and treatment are to be achieved. Methods: A …national probability sample of 10,000 households was sampled by random digit dialing and screened by telephone to identify how many of the nearly 27,000 household members had been diagnosed with a PID. Results: A total of 23 household members in 18 households were reported with a specific diagnosis for PID (CVID, IgA, IgG, XLA, SCID, CGD), whereas additional cases were reported as a PID without a confirmatory diagnosis. These findings suggest a population prevalence of diagnosed PID in the United States at approximately 1 in 1,200 persons. Conclusions: Diagnoses of PID in the United States are far more common than suggested in the literature. Show more

Keywords: Primary immunodeficiency diseases, incidence, prevalence in the United States, Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas Inc. (SRBI) for the Immune Deficiency Foundation

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 99-108, 2008

Authors: Chawla, Rubby

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 111-115, 2008

Authors: de Pena, Roberta A. | Menendez, Alejandra

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 117-119, 2008

Authors: Singh, Surjit

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 121-130, 2008

Authors: Boyle, Marcia L. | Scalchunes, Christopher

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 133-146, 2008

Authors: Wood, Philip

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The primary antibody deficiency syndromes are a rare group of disorders that can present at any age and for which delay in diagnosis remains common. Replacement therapy with immunoglobulin in primary antibody deficiencies increases life expectancy and reduces infection frequency and severity. Higher doses of immunoglobulin are associated with reduced infection frequency. Late diagnosis and delayed institution of immunoglobulin replacement therapy results in increased morbidity with a wide variety of organ-specific complications …and increased mortality. Therapy with immunoglobulin leads to improvements in overall quality of life, and many of the improvements relate to reduced infection rates and fear of future infections, strongly suggesting that the immunoglobulin therapy itself is the major factor in this improvement. There is limited data on the economic benefits of immunoglobulin therapy, with the fluctuating costs of immunoglobulin making comparison between different studies difficult. However, estimates suggest that early intervention with immunoglobulin replacement compares favourably with prolonged therapy for other more common chronic diseases. Show more

Keywords: Antibody deficiency, immunoglobulin therapy, common variable immunodeficiency

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 147-157, 2008

Authors: Modell, Fred

Article Type: Research Article

Citation: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 10, no. 1-4, pp. 161-165, 2008