“Personalized diagnosis for each patient using single molecule analysis is particularly helpful, as it enables us to draw up a diet plan and prevent unexpected outbreaks,” explains Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber from the Institute for Pathophysiology and Allergy Research at MedUni Vienna, who is leading the organizing committee for the congress, together with Barbara Bohle (Head of the Institute for Pathophysiology and Allergy Research) and Zsolt Szépfalusi (University Department of Paediatrics).
Does sugar boost allergens?
The management of such patients, especially those with severe, life-threatening, anaphylactic conditions, is also a central theme at the EAACI Congress. Moreover, the extent to which sugar and lipid structures in food interact with allergens, thereby boosting their effect, is being investigated in allergology in general – and at MedUni Vienna. The aim is to develop immunotherapies that can also be used in future for people with food allergies.
Europe spends 100 billion euros per annum on the treatment of allergies
The commonest allergies are still inhalation allergies, whereby allergens are breathed in with the air and allergens include plant pollens, moulds, house-dust mites and animal hairs. Around one million Austrians are allergic to pollen, one in every three to grass pollen.
According to the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF), 30% of the population are affected by some form of allergy - and the trend is rising. ECARF reckons that allergic asthma, food allergies, allergies to drugs and insect allergies cost the European healthcare system 100 billion euros every year.
Event: EAACI Congress in Vienna
The EAACI (European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) congress will take place in the Vienna Exhibition Center from Saturday 11 June to Wednesday 15 June 2016. The local organizing committee is led by Barbara Bohle, Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber (both from the Institute for Pathophysiology and Allergy Research) and Zsolt Szépfalusi (University Department of Paediatrics) at MedUni Vienna. For more information: www.eaaci2016.org