A high proportion of athletic individuals suffer from allergic and respiratory disease(s) such as rhinitis (hay-fever) and exercise-induced asthma. Although not fully understood, it is thought that the increased rate and depth of breathing during heavy exercise and regular exposure to outdoor irritants and allergens may explain the increased prevalence in comparison to the general population. The impact or consequence of an allergy or asthma diagnosis in elite athletes is typically considered two-fold; firstly, in terms of maintaining athlete health and secondly in terms of optimising sporting performance. It is equally important, however, to consider the impact of allergy and asthma from a non-athletic perspective. The World Health Organisation (the primary international public health authority) have recently targeted a reduction in physical in-activity as a key global health priority - therefore the importance of establishing an accurate diagnosis to control symptoms, optimise disease management, and reduce barriers to exercise and physical activity engagement in the wider general population remains a priority. The proposed EAACI Task Force will therefore provide an up-to-date research informed position statement detailing the optimal approach to the diagnosis and management of allergic and respiratory disease in sport. The document will be structured as a concise practically-focussed source of reference for clinicians and healthcare practitioners encountering patients reporting exercise-related allergic and respiratory symptoms.

Organ-specific allergen challenges (ocular, nasal, bronchial) are the gold standard for the diagnosis of airway allergy. These tests investigate in a controlled manner the capacity of the allergen to induce an inflammatory reaction in the conjunctival, nasal or bronchial mucosae of individual patients. To be implemented in the clinic these tests should count with standardized protocols. EAACI has recently published documents about ocular and nasal challenges. On the other hand, a document for bronchial allergen challenges has not been published in EAACI journals. Nevertheless, in the era of precision medicine, it is crucial to perform a precise phenotyping of asthma patients. This tool is especially important in the case of occupational asthma the social and economic repercussions of which make necessary a confirmatory diagnosis. Therefore, this TF will work for the generation of a consensus protocol for bronchial allergen challenges.

Because there are relevant epidemiological and pathophysiological links between conjunctivitis, rhinitis and asthma (usually collectively referred as the united airwaysconcept), it is also interesting to assess the capacity of each organ-specific allergen challenge to evaluate the totality and the complexity of the allergic respiratory disease (conjunctivitis-rhinitis- asthma). In this TF the methodological aspects of the three organ-specific challenges will be compared and their ability to diagnose/phenotype individual patients will be studied.

High altitude climate therapy (HACT) combines multidisciplinary treatment with environmental trigger avoidance in the healthy alpine climate, including optimization of disease control, rehabilitation and self-management education. The high altitude environment is characterized by dry clean air, reduced levels of allergens, particulate matters and molds, combined with decreased atmospheric pressure and increased UV-exposure. High altitude treatment has been successfully applied for more than 100 year in the treatment of asthma, upper airway diseases and atopic dermatitis in children and adults, yet only recently the immunological and molecular mechanisms of successful HACT have been studied in more detail. International guidelines recommend considering a non-pharmacological treatment strategy such as high altitude treatment for patients with chronic diseases of the skin and airways. HACT Task Force aims at reviewing the evidence of the effect of HACT and advising the focus of future research.