I have with interest read the April Editorial on a new name for our society and also the comments of my old friends Kontou-Fili and Bonini.

The field of allergy and non-allergic hypersensitivity (Please read the EAACI position paper on nomenclature again! You can not read it too often.) has developed significantly during the last 50 years and today we have quite a good understanding both of the mechanisms underlying symptoms and signs and also of its clinical impact. During these years more and more physicians, nurses, scientists, patients, politicians, journalists etc have had to seriously consider the disease and its social implications. As a consequence, both the professional and laymen terminology related to the field has changed. E.g. in many of the countries where a clinical speciality of the field is registered it is called allergology. And a person with a speciality in allergology is specialist in allergy and non-allergic hypersensitivity. Interestingly, the same distinction is not made for immunologic reactions.

EAACI has over the last decade or two developed into the natural forum in Europe to discuss and develop all aspects of allergy disregarding clinical structures like age of patient, target organ mainly involved and type of symptoms. This is most important with a disease complex having a prevalence in the order of 30-40%.

I strongly recommend to change the meaning of the second A to “Allergy” and thereby inviting all clinicians, independent of their clinical speciality, with any involvement in allergy and non-allergic hypersensitivity to join EAACI and to feel at home in EAACI.

S.G.O. Johansson

Former EAACI President