Pictured above is the St James's Hospital Immunology Department team, which has recently received designation as Ireland's first centre of excellence for urticaria care. Dr Cliodhna Murray (third from left), Dr Katie Ridge and Prof Niall Conlon (both far right) led this initiative.
The Immunology Department at St James’s Hospital has been designated the first UCARE Centre (Urticaria Centre of Reference and Excellence) in Ireland, following accreditation from the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network.
Chronic spontaneous urticaria refers to hives that come and go without any obvious trigger, lasting for longer than 6 weeks. It is a common condition affecting 1 in 100 people and is almost three times more common in females. While many people will experience acute urticaria at some point in their lives in the form of hives which resolve within a few days, chronic urticaria is a debilitating condition which can be challenging for clinicians to treat. In Europe, the mean time to diagnosis is 2-4 years. Patients with chronic urticaria report significantly impacted quality of life and poor sleep. Comorbid mood disorders such as anxiety and depression are common. Angioedema, a term referring to swelling of the deeper layers of the skin, is a feature in approximately half of patients.
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