Teague WG, Iqbal A, Ding Y, et al. - Researchers undertook this retrospective analysis of children (ages 6-11 years old) with severe or poorly controlled (SPC) asthma in private and public insurance settings, to determine how asthma exacerbations, health care use, and costs among these patients could be impacted by allergen sensitization (AS). They used the MarketScan Commercial (private insurance) and Medicaid databases. AS was identified in 34% of children while 20% did not have AS and, in the rest, AS status could not be ascertained. Significantly higher adjusted rates of asthma exacerbations during follow-up as well as significantly more days with oral corticosteroids use were observed in children with AS vs those without AS. Overall, relatively greater asthma-related healthcare use and costs were reported in children with SPC asthma and AS vs those with SPC asthma without AS.