PAW 2020: Join the clinical case game now!

The 4th ESCMID Professional Affairs Workshop (PAW) will take place from 23 – 26 November 2020 in an innovative online format. The theme of this edition of the workshop is: “Being an infectious disease or a clinical microbiology specialist: challenges and opportunities”

Registration has been opened and is 120€ for ESCMID members and 150€ for Non-members. The first people to register also have the possibility to participate in a clinical case game during the workshop.

The case game can only be joined until the 9th of November 2020. Visit the website for more information.

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Applications accepted for Assistant ECCMID Programme Director

New EUCAST category description: Susceptible, increased exposure

For many decades, the meaning and use of the "intermediate" clinical category in the interpretation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing results was unclear to both clinical laboratories and clinicians. The definition consisted of three partly conflicting concepts: i) a warning about the uncertainty of therapeutic effect, ii) an encouragement to ensure adequate antimicrobial exposure (dosage), and iii) methodological variation. With this ambiguity, the use of many agents was avoided since most clinicians only favoured "S" results and avoided the "intermediate" category. This promoted the use of what was perceived as trustworthy, safe, often new broad-spectrum alternatives, which from a antimicrobial stewardship perspective is desirable to avoid.
EUCAST has now changed the definition of "I" from "intermediate" to "susceptible, increased exposure". The new definition stresses that the agent can still be used, provided that the dosing is altered to achieve high antimicrobial exposure. EUCAST is devoted to assist in introducing the new definition, and can provide educational material upon request.

Find out more about EUCAST on their website.

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Continue your ECCVID experience

Your ECCVID experience can continue online until the end of the year!

You can still experience all of the more than 100 scientific symposia, keynotes, meet-the-expert sessions and practical workshops, on a wide range of topics surrounding COVID-19.

Your registration gives you access to all of the scientific material including Keynotes, ePosters, Q&A sessions, and scientific symposia using the on-demand feature of the ECCVID platform.

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ECCMID 2021 programme proposals finalised

As of yesterday (2 November 2020), proposals have been collected from Study Groups and other ESCMID entities for scientific sessions to take place in Vienna (and online) during the 31st ECCMID in July 2021.

These proposals will now be evaluated by the ECCMID Programme Committee ahead of an online programme committee meeting on December 1, 2020.

More information on the event can be found on the ECCMID website.

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CMI highlight: Risk assessment for rationalising the use of personal protective equipment for SARS-CoV2 in healthcare settings with special focus on low- and middle-income settings

The present commentary is analysing the infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance that has been developed in the past months by healthcare institutions and regulators to mitigate and prevent SARS-CoV2 transmission within healthcare settings. The need to develop setting-specific and individualised risk assessment tools and on tailoring preventative measures to the risk of exposure health care workers (not only nurses and doctors, but also security and kitchen personnel) is particularly stressed. Moreover, the importance of not focusing only on guidance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to implement IPC protocols, but also on other important measures in IPC protocols such as ventilation, job role, proximity and duration of patient contact and type of “care” provided, for example, is discussed. This would avoid PPE overuse, which results in excess medical waste and in some instances shortages of PPE for those most in need of it. Furthermore, excessive PPE may also increase the risk of exposure by incorrect doffing and detract from frequent hand-hygiene.

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