Microorganisms: good, bad or ugly in allergic respiratory disease
Symposium Chairs: S. Holgate (Southampton, United Kingdom), P. J. Sterk (Leiden, The Netherlands)
Aims: At the end of the symposium, the audience will have gained an insight into the role of environmental conditions and microorganisms in the homeostasis of the inflammatory and immune responses in relation to allergic and respiratory disease. Microorganisms in the intestinal mucosa may influence immunological reactions and affect the allergic condition. At the mucosa of the respiratory tract, infectious microorganisms and their products influence local and systemic inflammatory and immunological events in the airways and lungs.