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Background: Although food allergy has universally been found to impair HRQL, studies have found significant differences in HRQL between countries, even when corrected for differences in perceived disease severity. However, little is known about factors other than disease severity which may contribute to HRQL in food-allergic patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify factors which may predict HRQL of food-allergic patients and also to investigate the specific impact of having experienced anaphylaxis and being prescribed an EAI on HRQL., Methods: A total of 648 European food-allergic patients (404 adults, 244 children) completed an age-specific questionnaire package including descriptive questions. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to develop models for predicting HRQL of these patients., Results: For adults, the prediction model accounted for 62% of the variance in HRQL and included perceived disease severity, type of symptoms, having a fish or milk allergy, and gender. For children, the prediction model accounted for 28% of the variance in HRQL and included perceived disease severity, having a peanut or soy allergy, and country of origin. For both adults and children, neither experiencing anaphylaxis nor being prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector (EAI) contributed to impairment of HRQL., Conclusions: In this study, food allergy-related HRQL may be predicted to a greater extent in adults than in children. Allergy to certain foods may cause greater HRQL impairment than others. Country of origin may affect HRQL, at least in children. Experiencing anaphylaxis or being prescribed an EAI has no impact on HRQL in either adults or children., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Our study is based on the collection of blood and ticks from sheep in Iran and Italy. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was performed to target the 18S rRNA gene and RLB was performed using previously published probes. In Italy and Iran 78.7% and 76.0% of the sheep were PCR positive, which after sequencing and RLB showed that they were Theileria ovis and Theileria lestoquardi, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the Clustal W multiple sequence alignment program and our sequences were compared with more than 50 others already published in the EMBL database. Our T. lestoquardi sequences linked with other T. lestoquardi sequences from Iran, Tanzania, and Sudan and Theileria annulata showed the importance of having species-specific probes between these two species. However, distinctive clades were found between T. lestoquardi ticks and those found in sheep blood. Italian T. ovis seemed to be closer to Theileria spp. from Namibia and Iran than with other T. ovis from Spain, Turkey, Tanzania, and Sudan adding some information to the controversy about this species. However, some confusion was found on the existing database where the location of pathogens, years, and species names was inaccurate and when available sequences were not always appropriately used. This article will discuss our results and some comparisons with other phylogenetic approaches.

Several polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) and a reverse line blot hybridization (RLB) method were used to identify Anaplasma platys in dogs held in a kennel in Italy. Whereas PCR techniques confirmed the presence of A. platys, the RLB method not only correlated the results obtained by PCR but also ruled out the presence of other species such as Ehrlichia canis or E. chaffeensis. There was no correlation between infection status and age or breed of the dogs. Polymerase chain reaction performed on the Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks collected from those dogs showed that they were also infected with A. platys. Sequences obtained from some samples and compared with those within the GenBank also confirmed the presence of A. platys.