We are approaching summer holidays and can look back at a busy first half of 2023.
Congress update – save the date
The ESCD Executive Committee visited the Congress venue for the next congress 4-7th September 2024 in Dresden, Germany together with the local organizer Prof Bauer in February. It is a beautiful site. Planning is under way for the program and we hope to have a dedicated website for the congress on line soon.
Save the date: 4–7 September 2024 // ESCD Congress // Dresden, Germany
Please block these dates in your diary – we look forward to seeing you there.
European baseline series and recommended additions for 2023
The update of the European baseline series and recommended additions for 2023 was published in Contact Dermatitis February issue. The update means inclusion of 3 new allergens in the European baseline series: Sodium metabisulfite 1% pet., benzisothiazolinone 0.1% pet. and decyl glucoside 5% pet. while Quaternium-15 1% pet. is removed from the series. The reasoning behind these changes can be found in the paper, which also contains recommendations for additions to the European baseline series: https://doi.org/10.1111/cod.14255
The Skin Allergy Meeting 2023
In March 2023 ‘The Skin Allergy Meeting’ (SAM) Digital was held as a collaboration between EAACI and ESCD. The meeting was chaired by Jose Luis Garcia-Abujeta (EAACI chair dermatology), Jeanne Duus Johansen (ESCD president) and over seen by Mohamed Shamji, EAACI Vice President Congresses. The Congress was very successfully executed with 347 participants joining from all over the world, representing 59 countries. Many chairs and speakers from the ESCD participated. The next SAM will be in 2 years.
Contact Dermatitis IF update
The impact Factor for the ESCD journal Contact Dermatitis has just been announced and is 5.5 for 2022, which is still high (IF 2021 was 6.4, while 3.9 in 2019). Many journals have seen a decline in the 2022 IF, as the production of papers during the COVID epidemic increased significantly but has now normalized. Thank you to all authors, reviewers, editorial boards, editors, and publisher for the huge efforts, which is behind the continued success of the journal.
ESCD taskforce updates
The ESCD taskforce on ‘Legal matters concerning patch test materials’ chaired by Swen John from Osnabruck, Germany has been very active. The task force is working on solutions to the shortage of patch test allergens, which is seen in many countries due to a change in their legal status in the EU. The task force is expected to publish a paper on the situation and solutions in autumn.
Thank you for answering our recent questionnaire
We would like to thank ESCD members who have been answering the questionnaires distributed. We are currently looking at your answers on how to develop the society and will use these in a strategy for the future.
The ESCD executive committee would like to wish you all a nice summer.