By Amina Abdul Salam The 8th annual conference of the Egyptian Society of Rheumatology and Immunology (ESRI) chaired by Dr Ali Youssef, Professor of Abdominal Diseases and Rheumatism, Mansoura University, has recommended an anti-virus vaccination. According to Dr Mohamed Salah Abdel Baki, Professor of Rheumatism and Immunity, Ain Shams University and Head of the Society, the conference discussed health problems resulting from rheumatic diseases, lupus, osteoporosis and spinal inflammation. Dr Abdel Baki announced during the conference that new biological therapies had become available locally for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. He said that there were guidelines for the treatment of patients with lupus which had been issued this year by the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR). There are also guidelines, he said, for the treatment of scleredema issued by the European League Against Rheumatism. Scleredema, he said, is a group of auto-immune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. Dr Kamel Hishmat, Professor of Abdominal Diseases and Rheumatism, Cairo University, stressed the importance of the gradual use of immune-suppressants in order to reach the immune system without affecting the body's capacity to resist microbes. Dr Samah Al-Bakri, Professor of Abdominal Diseases and Immunity, Ain Shams University, said that the aim of the conference was to exchange expertise among physicians through organising workshops between the ESRI and Meka el Mokarama University, Saudi Arabia. Participating were 250 medical specialists in rheumatic diseases and immunity, in addition to representatives from different Egyptian universities.
