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The recently emergent disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), transmitted by droplets and aerosols, was named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by World Health Organization. Predominantly, the disease progress is asymptomatic or mild, but one-fifth of the patients advance to severe or critical illness. In severe COVID-19 patients, type-2 T helper cells release numerous cytokines; this excessive immune response is named as cytokine storm. The cytokine storm, which is the hallmark of the COVID-19 induced by the disease and aggravates due to lack of proper immune response, similar to SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the disease status may progress forward to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), systemic inflammatory response syndrome, multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, and death. Mesenchymal stromal cell transplantation is up-and-coming in treating many diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B, influenza, coronavirus diseases (SARS, MERS), lung injuries, and ARDS. Upon closer inspection on respiratory diseases, COVID-19, influenza, SARS, and MERS have similarities in pathogenesis, especially cytokine and immune response profiles. These comparable features in terms of the cytokine storm will provide hints for the treatment of COVID-19., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Background: Urticaria can be the only sign of a food allergy or can be seen together with other signs and symptoms of a food allergy., Objective: To determine the demographic, etiologic, and clinical features of food-induced acute urticaria in childhood., Methods: Patients suspected of food-induced acute urticaria were included in this prospective cross-sectional multicenter study., Results: Two hundred twenty-nine urticaria cases were included in this study. Seventeen patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria of the study were excluded. Of the 212 included cases, 179 (84.4%) were diagnosed with definitive food-induced acute urticaria. The most common foods causing acute urticaria were cow's milk, hen's eggs, and nuts in 56.4, 35.2, and 19% of cases, respectively. The positive predictive value of a history of milk-induced acute urticaria together with a milk-specific IgE >5 kU/L for cow's milk-induced acute urticaria was 92% (95% CI: 81-96%). A history of cow's milk-induced and/or hen's egg-induced acute urticaria was consistent with a definitive diagnosis of food-induced urticaria (Chen's kappa: 0.664 and 0.627 for milk and eggs, respectively). Urticaria activity scores were higher in patients with food-induced acute urticaria (p = 0.002)., Conclusion: Cow's milk, hen's eggs, and nuts were the most common allergens in the etiology of childhood food-induced acute urticaria. Although the urticaria activity score provides guidance for diagnosis, an oral food challenge is often essential for the definitive diagnosis of a patient with a history of food-induced acute urticaria., (© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Aim: This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of family physicians working in family health centers in Sakarya province related to childhood asthma., Material and Methods: One hundred seventy-two physicians participated in this study, which was conducted as a survey. The questionnaire included 46 questions that measured the attitude and behavior, sociodemographic characteristics, professional practices, theoretical/clinical knowledge of the family physicians., Results: A total of 172 physicians including 144 certificated general practitioners, 7 family medicine specialists, and 21 contracted family medicine residents were enrolled in the study. Less than half (44.2%) of the participants agreed that family physicians could make a diagnosis of asthma, 61.6% agreed that family physicians could follow up and maintain treatment, and 86% agreed that family physicians could give treatment in cases of mild asthma attack. Some 44.6% of the physicians stated that they always/frequently referred patients with asthma, 92% stated that they always/frequently interrogated if the disease was under control, and 79.7% stated that they always/frequently reminded their patients about triggers and the use of inhaler drugs. The mean number of correct answers was 6.23±1.56 for 10 theoretical questions and 10.33±1.90 for 16 clinical questions. It was observed that age, sex, district of work place, time since graduation, represantative visits, and the frequency of prescriptions were the charcatristics of family physicians that caused significant changes in attitute and behavior. Being a specialist or residents, working in a central district, and absence of poster/brochure in family health center were found to be factors that affected success in questions related to clinical cases. It was observed that general practitioner family physicians interrogated the control status more frequently than specialists and residents, reminded their patients with asthma about triggers and inhaler drug use with a higher rate and exhibited a positive attitude in terms of giving treatment for asthma attacks., Conclusion: In this study, a deficiency was observed in terms of basic information related to asthma and in terms of practical applications. It was observed that family physicians' attitudes about asthma did not always coincided with their behaviors. No significant correlation was found when the relations of attitude, behavior, and knowledge level were evaluated between themselves., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright: © 2019 Turkish Archives of Pediatrics.)

Allergic rhinitis is described as a chronic inflammation of the nasal mucosa causing rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal congestion and itching, often characterized with conjunctival injection and ocular itching. The prevalence of pediatric allergic rhinitis has recently shown a sharp increase throughout the world. However, there are significant differences among the regions, thus indicating to the influence of varying genetic and environmental factors upon the development of allergic rhinitis. This regional difference is mainly related to the 'western diet' and 'western lifestyle', with its swift changes in environmental and behavioral factors, besides a genetic predisposition. Some main and potential risk factors contributing to the development of allergic rhinitis are still unclear. In this review, we discuss mostly well known and some emerging new risk factors in the light of recent literature.