Rome, 12 April (beraking latest news Salute) – “I am excited, honored and deeply moved in accepting the keys to the city of Sciacca in the name of my paternal grandparents Antonino Stefano and Calogera Fauci”. This was written by the immunologist and scientific advisor of the White House Anthony Fauci in the text, published by ‘Corriere della sera’, of the speech that will be held on April 22 when he will inaugurate, via video link, the twenty-third national congress, online, of Siaip, Italian of pediatric allergology and immunology, chaired by Gian Luigi Marseglia, director of the pediatric clinic at San Matteo in Pavia. On the occasion, the keys of Sciacca, the town in the Agrigento area of which his family originates, will be delivered to Fauci, again virtually.
“At the beginning of the twentieth century – Fauci recalls – they and my maternal grandparents immigrated to New York via Ellis Island, and this is how I was born and then raised in Brooklyn, New York. In my experience, many Italian American immigrants were imbued with the spirit of gratitude transmitted by grandparents to parents and grandchildren. This spirit was the love for their new country, America, and the desire to give them something back. This was certainly the spirit instilled in me, originating from my grandfather, transmitted to my father and from him to me. ”
“My way of repaying – underlines Fauci – was to choose the public service. I decided to become a doctor since I was good in science, but I also wanted to interact with people. Working at the National Institute of Health I could continue to see the patients as well as conducting medical research. In 1984 I became director of the institute and since then – recalls the immunologist – I have had the added privilege of helping to guide the biomedical response to emerging global health crises such as HIV, the flu pandemic, Ebola , Zica and now Covid-19 “.
“Having recently entered the second year of this historic Covid-19 pandemic, we are all understandably exhausted and eager to put an end to the suffering, tragic deaths and restrictions that the pandemic has imposed on our lives. Extraordinarily – notes Fauci – we have several vaccines against Covid-19 that in record time have shown great efficacy, providing the hope of having the tools in hand to defeat Sars-Cov-2 “.
“Although vaccines are essential to achieve this goal, obviously – emphasizes the immunologist – we cannot consider them the only way out of this pandemic. A two-pronged strategy will be necessary: vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest time, continuing at the same time to constantly follow public health prevention measures until we get the better of this virus. We can put an end to this pandemic and we will do it. But how soon we can achieve this – remembers the White House adviser – depends from the commitment of each of us to be part of the solution “.
“So thank you again for this extraordinary honor of the keys to the city of Sciacca – concludes the immunologist – which I will always keep as a tribute to my paternal grandparents. I really can’t wait to visit Sciacca, when the pandemic is over”.
The invitation to the Italian congress came directly from Professor Marseglia, one of the Italian authorities in the pediatric field, who explains in the ‘Corriere della Sera’: “The Italian Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology gathers over two thousand pediatricians. Many are young people we believe in. a lot and that we support with scholarships. With Covid we have a primary scientific role, given that it is a disease that affects the immune system. For this reason – concludes Marseglia – we thought of an important intervention like that of Anthony Fauci “.