Scientists discover new drug to lower symptoms of severe eczema

ILLINOIS: Researchers from Northwestern Medicine discovered a new drug that was highly effective in lowering the signs and symptoms of moderate-to-severe eczema.

This is the first trial to use a biologic therapy (monoclonal antibody) instead of immune-suppressing drugs to treat moderate-to-severe eczema in infants and children aged 6 months to 5 years.

More than half the children experienced at least a 75 per cent reduction in eczema symptoms, highly significant reductions in itching, and improved sleep after a 16-week course of dupilumab, a drug that targets a crucial immunological system in allergens.

This is the first massive, random, placebo-controlled trial of a monoclonal antibody for any skin condition, including eczema, in kids as young as six months.

The study, which covered 31 locations across Europe and North America, will be released in The Lancet on September 15. According to the lead study author Dr Amy Paller, chair of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, "preschoolers who are constantly scratching, awake multiple times a night with their parents, irritable and markedly limited in their ability to do what other children their age can do improved to the extent that they sleep through the night, change their personalities, and have a normal life -- as babies and children should."

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that causes itching, red, dry skin, and frequent weeping. It can have a significant impact on the life of both the patient and their family.

More than one-fifth of all children under the age of six are thought to have eczema and 85 to 90 per cent of those who have the condition as a whole experience its commencement in the first five years of life.

The crippling itch of the kids causes sleep disruption, poor neurocognitive growth, and, on average, a full night of lost sleep every week. Infants and young children who suffer greatly from this disease will live far better lives if they can take this medication, according to Paller.

"There is a lot more to atopic dermatitis or eczema than just scratchy skin. It is a fatal condition. Severe eczema has a quality of life that rivals many illnesses that are potentially fatal, not just for the child who has it but also for the parents."

This study led to the availability of this drug for infants and preschoolers as young as 6 months. According to Paller, it has "an amazing safety profile" and doesn't even need any laboratory tests before the prescription is started.

The remaining one-third or more of young children with eczema have the moderate-to-severe illness and require more active therapy, even if half to two-thirds of them have mild symptoms that can be managed with steroid ointment and moisturisers.