WAD2025 ran on the 3rd of February and was a great success. Most of the talks are now available to watch as video here. 

 

Join us on Mon 3rd Feb 2025 for World Aspergillosis Day to help raise awareness and connect with others who have an interest in this disease. By working together, we can improve diagnosis, treatment and support for aspergillosis patients around the world  #WorldAspergillosisDay  #WAD2025

 

On Mon 3rd Feb, we ran a 1-day online meeting via Microsoft Teams, where people could share lived experiences and learn about cutting-edge developments in chronic aspergillosis. Run by the CARES team at the National Aspergillosis Centre (Manchester, UK), this meeting hopes to bring together doctors, researchers and patients living with chronic forms of aspergillosis (CPA, aspergilloma, nodules, ABPA, SAFS).

PROGRAMME

The programme is built around two themes that come up frequently in our patient support group:

  • Why did I get CPA? 
  • How can we measure and improve quality of life?

The Teams meeting will be open before/after the talks and during coffee/lunch breaks, for general discussions and social chat

 

9:00   Teams meeting opens

9:45   Welcome

10:00 ABPA guidelines & criteria – Dr Huw Ellis (National Aspergillosis Centre, NHS)

10:45   Session 1: Why did I get CPA?

  • COPD lung epithelium – Dr Margherita Bertuzzi (MFIG, University of Manchester)
  • Interferon gamma deficiency – Dr Chris Kosmidis (National Aspergillosis Centre, NHS)

12:45 LUNCH BREAK

13:30  Session 2: Patient stories

  • Patient story – Mick (CPA; UK)
  • Patient story – Marcela (ABPA; Portugal)
  • Patient experiences – Lisa McNeill (Aspergillosis Trust)

14:45 COFFEE BREAK

15:00  Session 3:  Aspergillosis & quality of life

  • CAPSULE study – Dareen Marghlani (Imperial University, London)
  • Practical coping tips – Dr Graham Atherton (National Aspergillosis Centre, NHS)

16:00  Open discussion / Q&A

17:00  Teams meeting closes

 

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TECHNOLOGY

  • Microsoft Teams is free for personal use and can be downloaded here: www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/teams-for-home
  • We recommend installing it a week or two before the event, in case you have problems setting it up. Ideally do a practice call with a friend/family member.
  • The talks will also be available on-demand via our YouTube channel after the event.

 

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DISCLAIMER

  • The information presented at this meeting does not constitute medical advice and we will not be able to give personal medical advice to any attendees.
  • This event is intended for patients with a medical diagnosis of chronic aspergillosis such as CPA, ABPA, aspergilloma, nodules or similar. Please keep in mind that aspergillosis is an extremely variable condition and not all of the information presented will be relevant to all patients in all healthcare systems.
  • People who have experienced other serious fungal conditions (e.g. invasive aspergillosis, Valley Fever, mucormycosis, Scedosporium infection) may find this meeting interesting, although we will not be covering these diagnoses directly.
  • We will not be discussing more controversial topics such as toxic mold or Candida overgrowth, and we will not allow attendees to promote alternative therapies that we think are potentially harmful (e.g. colloidal  silver, restrictive diets, essential oils)

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

We will be sharing various messages on our X.com channel – please retweet us! Or share the graphics below

 

 

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