ALLERGY SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA (ALLSA) SUPPORTED RESEARCH IN ALLERGY AND ASTHMA

2024 UPDATE

ALLSA was founded in 1988. The first ALLSA research grant was awarded in 1991 for a study titled ‘Cockroach allergy in Durban.’ This article subsequently received international recognition.

 Over the years ALLSA has supported 94 researchers working in the fields of allergy and asthma – including laboratory and clinical research. Many of the research projects have led to local and international publications as well as masters and doctoral degrees, and many of the recipients of ALLSA research awards are now key opinion leaders in the field. A selection of the allergy research projects include characterisation and identification of South African grasses, sulphite preservatives, seafood allergy, and house dust mites in various geographical regions.

Rhinovirus and its relationship to asthma exacerbations received funding between 1997-2000 and resulted in a number of publications in international journals. Other asthma research that received support included asthma epidemiology and near-fatal asthma in children. Public health aspects of asthma and occupational allergy research gained importance in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 Chronic urticaria became a focus for research at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in 2001 and 2002. ALLSA supported research into the respiratory medical terms used by Xhosa speaking people in 2002; this research culminated in a Ph.D. degree in Linguistics. More recently research into the prevalence of IgE-mediated food allergy in South African children with atopic dermatitis was supported; this research resulted in the first PhD to be awarded in the field of clinical allergology in South Africa.

Other ALLSA-supported research involved the prevalence of alpha-gal allergy in the rural Eastern Cape, primary healthcare management guidelines for childhood atopic eczema, fatty acid and micronutrient intake and status in association with allergy among pregnant urban women, and allergen labelling in the management of children with food allergies in South Africa. These research projects resulted in one Ph.D. and three Master’s degrees. The most recently funded research includes intramuscular autoinjectors, red meat allergy, oral food challenges, and penicillin allergy.

The history of academic allergy in South Africa is also reflected in the awards; in the early 1990s most of the awards went to researchers aligned to the University of Cape Town. Subsequently, the other universities and the NIOH also developed research areas in asthma and allergy and received funding from ALLSA.

Funding of ALLSA research awards

Previously all the research awards were directly funded by the pharmaceutical industry: UCB, Glaxo and its related companies, MSD, and Cipla. Over the years ALLSA invested wisely and since 2019 ALLSA funds the research awards from interest derived from its investments.