World Aspergillosis Day 2023
Background
World Aspergillosis Day was first proposed by a group of patients at the National Aspergillosis Centre in Manchester, UK. We had been discussing how pulmonary aspergillosis is a serious chronic disease not only for the groups of people in our clinic that have chronic aspergillosis (CPA) or allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) but also had implications for people with other illnesses including severe asthma (SAFS), tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF).
We discussed how we might not only reach more people with CPA and ABPA but all groups of people who may have an aspergillosis infection or allergy. World Aspergillosis Day was born on that day.
The inaugural day took place on the 1st February 2018 at the meeting for patients & carers at the Advances Against Aspergillosis meeting in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018.
WAD 2023
The aim of World Aspergillosis Day is to raise awareness of a fungal infection that is often underdiagnosed, like many other fungal infections worldwide.
For World Aspergillosis Day 2023 we hosted a number of seminar talks from experts across the field on different areas of aspergillosis, including research and patient support.
Seminar series:
9:20 – Introduction
CARES Team:
9:30 – Hard Science 101
Professor Paul Bowyer:
10:00 – CPA – Current scenario in India
Dr Animesh Ray:
10:30 – The light at the End of the Tunnel – New developments in the fight against Aspergillosis
Ange Brennan:
11:00 – Is your home damp? If it is how might it affect your health?
Dr Graham Atherton:
11:30 – Manchester Fungal Infection Group (MFIG) PhD Students
Kayleigh Earle – Developing a new model to study Aspergillus fumigatus infections in people with cystic fibrosis
Isabelle Storer – Identifying new drug targets to fight Aspergillus infections:
12:00 – Fungal Infection Trust – Working together to improve awareness, treatment and patient outcomes for all those affected by fungal diseases.
Dr Caroline Pankhurst:
12:15 – Case history web resource
Dr Elizabeth Bradshaw:
WAD video from the Medical Mycology Society of Nigeria
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