This volume of "Agents and Actions Supplements" provided a challenge to the editors, the authors and the publisher. It was our aim to complete the book in advance of the lectures to be given at the "International Symposium on Asthma and Allergic Diseases in Childhood," in Berne, Switzerland, on March 25th-27th, 1993. This symposium commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Swiss Association of Parents of Asthmatic and Allergic Children. The incidence of asthma and allergies generally is on the increase and demands everyone's attention, including that of physicians, researchers, allied health...