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Pediatric Allergy,Asthma and Immunology is a new discipline
that finds its foundation in this book, whose
roots linke me to Elena and Luisa Businco,with whom I
founded the first Italian Pediatric Allergy Division some
30years ago, now called the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
Division. There I discovered this world,
where I had the chance to revive the significance of the
three Ss: science, safety and sympathy. Children and
their parents consult us in the hope of finding scientific
and medical knowledge as well as assurance and understanding
sympathy, all necessary prerequisites for the
successful outcome of our everyday tasks.Above all, one
should appreciate how much the pediatrician–allergist
is, more than any other doctor, dedicated to the care of
his or her patients, since he or she must either deal with
cases of extreme severity, such as anaphylactic shock, or
perform ordinary jobs, such as giving suggestions on
the diets or the furnishings of the home. The pediatrician–
allergist should always find out how to protect the
infant, the child and the adolescent against discrimination
because of their allergy.With proper prescriptions
and appropriate recommendations, such an objective is
always within reach, and both the child and his or her
parents will profit from a better quality of life.
The earliest roots of this book developed from my
everyday work in the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
Division and have grown while preparing lessons
and courses to be delivered to medical students and
postgraduates in pediatrics. Of course, this ongoing
work has found its expression in a host of papers that
have inspired several chapters within this book. However,
my primary aim was not one of doing something
necessary; I have hoped only to do something that is
useful to someone.With this book, I hope to have offered
convincing proofs and foundations to colleagues
committed to pediatric allergy and immunology. Often
its main goal is one of prevention, in all senses and using
all resources, as Arnaldo Cantani Sr. wrote in 1877
in the preface to the first edition of his Textbook of Clinical
Pharmacology: “ … only corresponding with a
meticulous study and the greatest exactness to the
precise indications of the case, the drugs may be use-
–ful to the patient … in the belief that air, water, and
alimentation are the first and most powerful means to
be well.” |