Lima-Peru

Organizers: Drs José Aguilar Olano, Edgar Matos Benavides, Juan Carlos Aldave, Rossana Rodriguez

The event was a success, both academically and socially. The speakers and international guests felt very comfortable during their stay in Lima, as they told us repeatedly before leaving and even once in their countries.The course was sponsored mostly by IUIS (Education and Clinical Immunology Committees), but also by Becton Dickinson and CONCYTEC (a Peruvian governmental organization).

The objectives of the meeting were:
– To promote the awareness of Primary Immunodeficiencies (PIDs) in Peruvian and Latin American doctors, and to increase early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of affected patients.
– To establish a network to make possible the reference of affected patients to specialized centers in Peru and Latin America in order to obtain a specific PIDs diagnosis.
– To promote basic, clinical and epidemiological investigation in PIDs.
– To promote the organization of a Peruvian PIDs Patient Association.

Lectures were on the following topics: Normal Immune System Function; Current situation of PIDs in Latin America; Approach and algorithm for diagnosis of PIDs; IV and SC gammaglobulin therapy in PIDs; Gene therapy and enzyme replacement in PIDs; Vaccines for PIDs; Screening for T and B deficiencies; Classification of PIDs; Complement disorders; Immunodeficiencies of phagocyte defects; PIDs of B lymphocytes; Common Variable Immunodeficiencies; Deficiencies of innate immunity; Combined Immunodeficiencies; Diagnosis of PIDs by flow cytometry; Other well-defined immunodeficiencies; Primary Immunodeficiency Database in Japan; Reference Labs in Latin America for diagnosis of PIDs; Online Database of LASID.
Guest lecturers were Dr Francisco Bonilla from Children’s Hospital Boston, USA; Dr Shigeaki Nonoyama from National Defense Medical College, Saitima, Japan; Dr Bobby Gaspar, University College London, UK; DrAntonio Condino from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil.