Proceedings - Xvii International Congress of Allergology and Clinical Immunology

Part 1 Guest contribution: recent advances in IgE. Part 2 Plenaries and keynotes: lymphocytes in health and disease; chemokines and allergic disease; allergen - the trigger; IgE regulation in Y2K - a time for genetics?; the role of eosinophils as effector and regulatory cells; contribution of MHC and non-MHC loci to the susceptibility to organ-specific autoimmune disease; gene-environmental interactions at an epithelial interface in the pathogenesis of asthma; the human genome project. Part 3 Symposia: allergic diseases in children in South America; urbanization and childhood asthma in South Africa; allergy in the Australian Aboriginal population; pathophysiologic aspects of allergic conjunctivitis; DNA vaccination with allergen genes; transcutaneous immunization; the burden of asthma; consequences of allergen sensitization via the airway mucosa - the role of eosinophils; asthma in developing countries; regulation of T-cell responses to inhaled allergen; mucosal nervous system; airway remodelling and inflammation; the evolution of asthma in childhood; work-related asthma - pathogenesis and diagnostic challenges; clinical utilities of cross-reactive recombinant allergen components; newly described house dust mite allergens; molecular structure, function and clinical significance of cockroach allergens; hierarchy and heterogeneity of T-cell responses to purified and recombinant house dust mite allergens; programming of allergen-specific Th-memory during childhood; early infections as aetiologic factors in the development of atopy; foetomaternal interactions in primary allergic sensitization; role of IL-12 receptor b2 mutations in the development of atopy; atopic eczema - clinical definition in epidemiology; the high-affinity IgE receptor on antigen-presenting cells; mechanisms of respiratory syncytial virus-induced asthma; mechanisms of rhinovirus-induced airway inflammation; anti-TNF ... therapy for rheumatoid arthritis; understanding and coping with atopic diseases; peptide-mediated immunotherapy - insights into the mechanisms of allergen desensitization; T cells and late asthmatic reactions; smooth muscle - a review; soybean epidemic asthma; what can we learn from the ECRHS?; the international study of asthma and allergies in childhood (ISAAC); disease patterns in eastern and western Europe; exercise-induced asthma in the year 2000; Epstein-Barr virus in association with respiratory illness in elite athletes; allergic rhinitis in elite athletes; immunity, illness and performance in Olympic athletes.