One Year With WAO Journal

One year ago at the World Allergy Congress in Bangkok, the new Journal of the WorldAllergy Organization (WAO) was officially launched; the first issue of WAOJournal appeared in January 2008. In several aspects, this was a major move anda great decision for WAO: After 20 years with Allergy Clinical ImmunologyInternational (first Allergy Clinical Immunology News)--Journal ofWorld Allergy Organization (ACII-JWAO), the board of directors decidedto open totally new doors and launch a new electronic-only journal. We can reach 30,000practicing allergists worldwide via e-mail, allowing a much higher degree of flexibilityand actuality. On the other hand, many of our readers still like paper and have to getused to the new electronic style. We believe, however, that this is the future ofscientific communication and interchange! Both for WAO and for the publisher,it is an experiment; there are still just few electronic-only journals as officialorgans of national or international specialty societies. However, we are confident thatWAO is on the road to success.

With approximately 40 articles published in this first year--most of them of highestquality--WAO covered large parts of the broad spectrum of theinterdisciplinary field of allergy, both in research and clinics.

WAO is in progress; under the new president, Walter Canonica--in the successionof Mike Kaliner, Carlos Baena Cagnani, Allen Kaplan, Gunnar Johansson, and so manyfamous allergists--the organization has become the leading force in internationalallergology, achieving much more than organizing a large congress every other year.WAO is the platform for everybody who wants to contribute to advanceexcellence in patient care, research, and education in the field of allergy and clinicalimmunology.

Not only WAO is in progress, but also allergy is rapidly developing.

The bad news first. There is still an increasing prevalence of many allergic diseasesall over the world, also in countries where these diseases were rather rare 20 yearsago. At the same time, allergic diseases become more and more complex and difficult todiagnose and treat; furthermore, there seems to be an age shift with not only childrenand young adults affected but more and more adults and elderly persons suffering fromsevere allergies.

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) has considerably improved in quality and efficacyand safety; however, it is applicable only to a small number of allergic patients. Somany people are suffering from allergies, where ASIT does not exist or is notavailable.

There are also good news. As rapidly as allergy prevalence was growing, the progress inallergy research is going on--we just want to mention the discovery of gene loci closelyassociated with allergic diseases as the cytokine cluster on chromosome 5, the ADAM 33for bronchial hyperreactivity or the filaggrin mutations for atopic eczema. Progress hasbeen made in ASIT with new extracts, adjuvants, and route of application.

There is also great progress in education, not only for medical students and doctors butalso for patients and patient organizations. Educational programs have been developedsuccessfully--some of them with proven efficacy in randomized prospective trials--forasthma and eczema and are being started for anaphylaxis. On the basis of this improvededucation of doctors, better clinical care for allergic individuals has been achieved inmany countries of the world; yet, there is still a lot to do!

WAO Journal considers itself to be one tool in the big effort toimprove the lives of allergic patients all over the world.

At the end of this year, it is time to thank so many people involved in thisundertaking, first of all, not only the WAO board of directors and the staff inMilwaukee (with Charu Malik, Lorie Conwell, and the editorial office) but also thepeople from the publisher (Diana Pesek, Adam Nicely), the regional associate editors,and the members of the editorial board who have helped to shape WAO, and lastbut not least the authors who have submitted excellent papers and the reviewers who havehelped to make them even better!

With all our best wishes for the coming holidays and a happy, healthy, and peaceful NewYear 2009!

Johannes Ring

(Editor in Chief)

Lanny Rosenwasser

(Co-editor in Chief)