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Whitfield KE, Ares Pita A, Jarvis TC, Weimen S, Bousema T. Geographic Equity and Environmental Sustainability of Conference Models: Results of a Comparative Analysis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2024; 110:1039-1045. [PMID: 38574548 PMCID: PMC11066347 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
We conducted a comparative analysis of in-person, virtual, and hybrid conferences on tuberculosis hosted by Keystone Symposia and examined the number of participants, their country of residence, carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) produced, and participant impressions regarding scientific quality. Data were available from three in-person meetings, one virtual meeting, and one hybrid. The virtual conference hosted 2.5-fold more participants compared with the in-person conferences (842 versus an average of 328) from more than double the number of countries (68 versus an average of 33). The virtual conference attracted 4.5-fold more participants from countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, compared with the average in-person conference (209 versus an average of 46). For in-person meetings, an average of 79% of participants were based in high-income countries. For the virtual meeting, 53% of participants were from high-income countries, and 47% from low- and middle-income countries. For the hybrid conference, there were 465 participants from 43 countries, of which 289 attended in person from a total of 20 countries, and 176 participated virtually from 34 countries. Of those who took part in person, 91% were from high-income countries. The average CO2e emissions from an in-person conference was 696 tons of CO2e, with 96.0% from air travel. The virtual meeting produced 0.48 ton of CO2e from electricity usage, a 1,450-fold decrease compared with in-person events. Virtual conferences scored a content quality rating of 87.3% to 90.8% compared with a range of 86.4% to 92.2% for in-person conferences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Thale C. Jarvis
- Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, Silverthorne, Colorado
| | - Shannon Weimen
- Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, Silverthorne, Colorado
| | - Teun Bousema
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Agache I, Annesi-Maesano I, Cecchi L, Biagioni B, Chung KF, Clot B, D'Amato G, Damialis A, Del Giacco S, Dominguez-Ortega J, Galàn C, Gilles S, Holgate S, Jeebhay M, Kazadzis S, Nadeau K, Papadopoulos N, Quirce S, Sastre J, Tummon F, Traidl-Hoffmann C, Walusiak-Skorupa J, Jutel M, Akdis CA. EAACI guidelines on environmental science for allergy and asthma: The impact of short-term exposure to outdoor air pollutants on asthma-related outcomes and recommendations for mitigation measures. Allergy 2024. [PMID: 38563695 DOI: 10.1111/all.16103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The EAACI Guidelines on the impact of short-term exposure to outdoor pollutants on asthma-related outcomes provide recommendations for prevention, patient care and mitigation in a framework supporting rational decisions for healthcare professionals and patients to individualize and improve asthma management and for policymakers and regulators as an evidence-informed reference to help setting legally binding standards and goals for outdoor air quality at international, national and local levels. The Guideline was developed using the GRADE approach and evaluated outdoor pollutants referenced in the current Air Quality Guideline of the World Health Organization as single or mixed pollutants and outdoor pesticides. Short-term exposure to all pollutants evaluated increases the risk of asthma-related adverse outcomes, especially hospital admissions and emergency department visits (moderate certainty of evidence at specific lag days). There is limited evidence for the impact of traffic-related air pollution and outdoor pesticides exposure as well as for the interventions to reduce emissions. Due to the quality of evidence, conditional recommendations were formulated for all pollutants and for the interventions reducing outdoor air pollution. Asthma management counselled by the current EAACI guidelines can improve asthma-related outcomes but global measures for clean air are needed to achieve significant impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioana Agache
- Faculty of Medicine, Transylvania University, Brasov, Romania
| | - Isabella Annesi-Maesano
- Institute Desbrest of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Montpellier and INSERM, Montpellier, France
| | - Lorenzo Cecchi
- Centre of Bioclimatology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Benedetta Biagioni
- Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit San Giovanni di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Kian Fan Chung
- National Hearth & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Bernard Clot
- Federal office of meteorology and climatology MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland
| | - Gennaro D'Amato
- Respiratory Disease Department, Hospital Cardarelli, Naples, Italy
- University of Naples Federico II Medical School of Respiratory Diseases, Naples, Italy
| | - Athanasios Damialis
- Department of Ecology, School of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Stefano Del Giacco
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
| | - Javier Dominguez-Ortega
- Department of Allergy, La Paz University Hospital, IdiPAZ, and CIBER of Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Carmen Galàn
- Inter-University Institute for Earth System Research (IISTA), International Campus of Excellence on Agrifood (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
| | - Stefanie Gilles
- Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Stephen Holgate
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Mohamed Jeebhay
- Occupational Medicine Division and Centre for Environmental & Occupational Health Research, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Stelios Kazadzis
- Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, Davos, Switzerland
| | - Kari Nadeau
- John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies, Department of Environmental Health, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nikolaos Papadopoulos
- Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Second Pediatric Clinic, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Division of Evolution and Genomic Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Santiago Quirce
- Department of Allergy, La Paz University Hospital, IdiPAZ, and CIBER of Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Joaquin Sastre
- Allergy Service, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Faculty of Medicine Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and CIBERES, Instituto Carlos III, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fiona Tummon
- Respiratory Disease Department, Hospital Cardarelli, Naples, Italy
- University of Naples Federico II Medical School of Respiratory Diseases, Naples, Italy
| | - Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann
- Department of Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Helmholtz Center Munich-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Augsburg, Germany
- Christine Kühne Center for Allergy Research and Education, Davos, Switzerland
| | - Jolanta Walusiak-Skorupa
- Department of Occupational Diseases and Environmental Health, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland
| | - Marek Jutel
- Department of Clinical Immunology, Wrocław Medical University, and ALL-MED Medical Research Institute, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Cezmi A Akdis
- Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), University Zurich, Davos, Switzerland
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