Day of Immunology with Apmarr and Anmar
April 29 is International Immunology Day, which was established in 2005 by the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS). For this occasion, the new regional Factor J session, held in Veneto, was dedicated to driving knowledge and information on the importance of the scientific discipline that studies the immune system, in many cases the trigger for pathologies such as rheumatology.
"More trust, more health, more future" is the slogan of the third edition of Factor J, the project developed by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Janssen Italia for Italian high schools, that aims to provide correct information and raise the awareness of youth on health and science, increasing their confidence in research and scientific progress, essential elements for a better and healthier future.
Today's meeting, with the di National Association of People with Rheumatological and Rare Diseases (Apmarr) and the National Association of Rheumatic Patients (Anmar), was an interactive event for students at the Educandato San Benedetto School Montagnana, in the province of Padua, to provide information on how our body defence mechanisms work and how alterations of the immune system (that also affect children and young people) can lead to autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, and tumours. In these cases, it is the immune system that plays the main role in causing inflammations, as for example in psoriatic arthritis in which it causes pathological changes and inflammation of the skin and/or joints, or in mistakenly attacking the tissues of one's own body, as in rheumatoid arthritis.
In Italy, it is estimated that about 254,000 people are affected by psoriatic arthritis, about 420 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, of which more than 20,000 cases in Veneto alone [Migkos et al 2019; Salaffi et al; 2005].
Organizing opportunities to reflect and discuss these issues, through both national and regional initiatives, allows us to inform and raise the awareness of the population on how to recognize disease symptoms, to identify the best structures and specialists, and to help people who suffer from it in their daily lives.
The meeting reinforced the objective of Factor J which, after reaching over 200,000 students in the past two editions, this year continues its calendar of on-site and on-line lessons in various Italian regions, involving over 3,000 high school students.
The students who have participated in Factor J also join in practical sessions on podcasting techniques, video making, graphics and storytelling and are participating in a contest that will see them as protagonists of their "health of the future" story. The students’ works will be evaluated by an exceptional jury made up of professionals from the world of communications and science. The winners in the individual categories will participate in an event in May in Milan where they will receive awards.
