Worms, Germs and Allergies: 55th Annual Swineford Conference

At the Allergy Division’s annual Swineford Conference, the roles of parasitic worms and infectious agents in regulating allergic response were among the topics debated and discussed.

The Allergy Division’s annual Swineford Conference is named for Oscar Swineford, MD, the first chief of UVA’s Allergy division and an expert in bacterial allergy and immunotherapy. According to current chief Thomas Platts-Mills, Dr. Swineford trained more than 60 fellows over a 30-year period. Dr. Platts-Mills holds the Oscar Swineford Jr. Chair in Medicine.

The 55th Swineford Conference was held at UVA on April 1 and 2, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Asthma and Allergy Society of Virginia. Among topics discussed this year was the relation of animal exposure and parasite infections to the “hygiene hypothesis” of allergic disease (the notion that, in modern societies, a lack of exposure in early childhood to infectious agents and microorganisms due to the implementation of hygienic measures such as clean drinking water has been an important driver in the increase in allergic disease); recent findings on eosinophilic esophagitis; new ways to think about immune deficiency; and a novel approach to allergy shots.

Speakers came from the National Institutes of Health, University of Cincinnati, University of Michigan, McMaster University in Canada, and Imperial College London to discuss their current research. In attendance were nearly 100 health care professionals, with lively Q&A sessions following each presentation.

Invited speakers included:

• ADNAN CUSTOVIC, DM, MD, PhD, FRCP
  Clinical Professor of Pediatric Allergy Imperial College London
• MARK LARCHÉ, PhD
  Canada Research Chair in Allergy & Immune Tolerance
  Professor of Medicine, McMaster University
• NICHOLAS W. LUKACS, PhD
  Godfrey Dorr Stobbe Professor of Research & Professor of Pathology
  Assistant Dean for Research Faculty, University of Michigan
• JONATHAN LYONS, MD
  Assistant Clinical Investigator
  Genetics and Pathogenesis of Allergy Section, Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, NIAID/NIH
• EDWARD MITRE, MD
  Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
  Uniformed Services University
• CARINA VENTER, PhD, RD
  Research Associate, Division of Allergy & Immunology Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

For an interesting review of the history of the allergy epidemic in modern, industrialized societies — in particular the dramatic increase in asthmatic disease since 1960 — and a discussion of current theories to account for this significant change in human health (including the hygiene theory), read Dr. Platts-Mills article “The Allergy Epidemics: 1870-2010,” published in the July 2015 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.