Our miniseries is coming to an end...I always hated the end of a good miniseries.  You get so comfortable with all the characters in the first few episodes, and then--poof!  End of show.  But, like "Roots", this is a miniseries with a message...and in this case the message is that we--as allergists--need to take responsibility for all allergic disease, and not pay "lip service" to allergic vaginitis (or other illnesses involving other target organs), and still call ourselves "allergists".  In that sense, my "example" of allergic vaginitis as something ignored is part of a much wider picture of other diseases that allergists have de-emphasized in our quest to become the Super-Asthma-Doctor.  What should we do?  Here's a specific suggestion:

Get involved with your local gynecologists, and seek referral of women with chronic recurrent vaginitis with current atopic histories, for starters.  Over the years I've worked with several savvy gynecologists on mutual cases--cases that would have never improved without the concurrent treatment of a gynecologist and an allergist (myself). Take a good allergy history, treat with SLIT, and watch the vaginal symptomatology improve.   In my experience, when you have a highly atopic patient with recurrent vaginitis issues, you are dealing with an allergic vaginitis issue until proven otherwise.  This would be a safe--and potentially very rewarding place--to start. 

In this miniseries I believe the primary actor--the allergist--has "set out" for most of the performance. We haven't seen hide nor hair of him/her...I have a dream of the allergist returning in a sequel to this original miniseries--as a major player--and not a two-bit actor.   Let's enter the miniseries now, and say "Play it again, Sam..."