Innovation Partners for Aerobiology & Biomedical Research

Looking back at the year so far, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Conference has been the stand out event so far. It was held in London in June and over 8,000 delegates attended, ranging from 109 different countries. There were many oral and poster presentations of interest to ASL, particularly in the area of environmental exposure to allergen, including dust mites and pollen.

The continuing debate on the hygiene hypothesis was evident in several presentations with research groups from Sweden and Germany presenting on the environmental exposure to bacteria and its inverse relationship to childhood asthma while other groups also from this region, but including Austria, reported on the protective effect of a farming environment on asthma and allergies. The underlying hypothesis of these presentations was that exposure to certain viable fungi and bacteria can lead to a strongly reduced risk for asthma and atopy, however there are likely to be specific combinations that lead to this protective effect.

Several poster presentations dealt with the risks to those suffering from asthma and allergies associated with consumer products such as cleaning products and flooring. Glass cleaner and quaternary ammonium compounds were two cleaning products highlighted for their capacity to induce asthma and rhinitis. The emission of volatile organic compounds from PVC flooring was also emphasised for its ability to induce asthma in an animal model. The asthma & allergy friendly^TM Certification Standards that ASL produce are intended to assist those suffering from asthma and allergies in the selection of products that are more suitable for them, including flooring and cleaning products.

A survey of the perception of UK allergy services was also presented at the Congress. This survey was performed at the request of the House Of Lords Allergy Implementation Working Party; the shortage in specialist allergy service provision is being repeatedly highlighted as contributing to poor outcomes in patients with allergic problems, and that still appears to be the case.

ASL will be contributing to this area through the launch of the asthma & allergy friendly^TM Certification Program, in partnership with Asthma UK. The Program will be presented to consumers in late 2010 and it is hoped that the provision of this signpost to appropriate consumer products for those suffering from allergies (and asthma) will be as successful and helpful to consumers as the Programs currently running in USA and Canada.

We look forward to attendance at the next EACCI Congress which will be held in Istanbul from 11^th-15^th June, 2011.