A whole new world: Asia Pacific Allergy online-only.

Wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Greetings from Asia Pacific Allergy, the official journal of Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology (APAAACI). This year is special that Asia Pacific Allergy is going to be an online-only journal. Since its launch in 2011, Asia Pacific Allergy has been adopting up-to-date strategies of publishing articles. As the Editor-in-Chief, I have studied the cases of the online-only journals with the editorial team for a year, and the final decision was made with the APAAACI executive board members and the editorial board members. This online-only strategy will facilitate paper processing and possibly reduce publishing costs. The layout of the website (www.apallergy.org) will be changed according to the online-only strategy. The layout of individual articles will also be changed. Based on one column, the layout will improve online readability. Now Asia Pacific Allergy is 7 years old. The estimated unofficial impact factor was 1.826 in November, 2017 (previously 1.366 in January, 2016). As the Editor-in-Chief, I really appreciate great support and contribution from the authors, reviewers, readers, APAAACI member societies, executive board members, editorial board members, sponsors, and the staffs. Our mission is to help you get your work published.

Time trends in the prevalence of allergic diseases must be one of the highlights in epidemiologic study. This issue features the time trends of the prevalence in Korea. Kang et al. [1] systematically reviewed all the published data on allergic diseases in Korea and showed with beautiful figures that the prevalence of allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy showed steadily increasing trends among children, whereas asthma did not show a consistent pattern.

Elderly asthma is an important issue in the era of an aging population with high socioeconomic cost and comorbidities [23]. In this issue, Lee et al. [4] reported the result of multifaceted interventions to reduce acute exacerbations in elderly asthmatics.

Advance in technology causes changes in daily practice [5]. Readers will find an article on the accuracy of serum-specific IgE test with microfluidic array enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosing inhalant allergen sensitization in Indonesia [6].

Basophil activation test may reflect IgE mediated immediate type hypersensitivity reactions, and could be used to detect the causative allergens including drugs [7]. What would be the changes of basophil activation during immunotherapy? Readers may find some clues in this issue [8].

I have some patients who told me that their symptoms of allergic rhinitis had gone by the combination therapy of inhaled corticosteroid and long acting beta2 agonist for asthma. Seo et al. [9] presented an interesting finding that optimal control of asthma improved eosinophilic otitis media, which suggests a possible link between upper and lower airway. Readers will also find a study on allergic rhinitis from 4 geographic regions using a network of experts [10].

Omalizumab is the first biologic medicine for allergic diseases such as asthma and chronic urticaria. It could be used for the prophylaxis of anaphylaxis during initial phase of allergen immunotherapy. However, it does not work all the time [11]. We need some clinical biomarkers that can predict the effectiveness of biological medicines.

Yam is commonly consumed food in East Asia. In this issue, Xu and Yin [12] reported the cases of boiled yam induced anaphylaxis and identified a thermal stable allergen in yam. Jellyfish is also commonly consumed food in East Asia. Readers will find an interesting article from Portugal that Jellyfish ingestion was safe for patients with crustaceans, cephalopods, and fish allergy [13].

This year is also special that the 11th APAAACI Congress, as the Joint Congress with APAPARI (Asia Pacific Association of Pediatric Allergy, Respirology & Immunology), will be held in Bangkok, Thailand on October 11–14, 2018 (http://www.apaaaci2018.com). Please save the dates and welcome to the whole new world!