ESCMID Webinar this evening: COVID-19 – The worldwide situation

The next ESCMID Webinar on COVID-19 is coming up this evening, Tuesday, 12 May, from 18:00 – 20:00 CEST.

Follow ESCMID on Twitter or Facebook to stay up to date with the announcement of these webinars, including these other upcoming dates:

• COVID-19 case presentations:
  Thursday, 21 May 2020, 18:00-20:00 CEST
• COVID-19 and Public Health:
  Thursday, 28 May 2020, 18:00-20:00 CEST

You can watch a replay of the first four webinars on the
ESCMID E-Academy.

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New ESCMID programme: The ESCMID Visiting Professorship Programme (VPP)

ESCMID has launched a new programme, where Institutions can ask for an endorsement letter if they wish to invite an expert to visit. Institutions can apply with the objectives of such a visit up to 6 months in advance. Eligible institutions can be:

• Public hospitals
• University hospitals
• Private hospitals
• Public laboratories
• University hospital laboratories
• Private laboratories
• Institutions dealing with public health

This new programme was launched last week. Institutions from low-income countries can apply for financial contribution for the visit of an expert. More information about the programme and contact details can be found on the ESCMID website.

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Elections of Study Group Executive Committees open

Elections are still open for the renewal of the Executive Committees of the following study groups: EFISG, EPASG, ESGCIP, ESGCP, ESGIB, ESGITM, ESGLI, ESGPHM, ESGREV, EVASG, ESGARS, EFWISG and ESGCD.

Elections have closed on Monday, 11 May 2020, for the following Study Groups: ESGS, ESGBOR, ESGFOR, ESGHAMI, ESGAP, ESGMD (one member), ESGMYC and ESGIE. The respective Election Committees are currently reviewing the results of the vote. The list of elected candidates will be announced by 1 June 2020.

To participate in the election process, log in to my.escmid.org with your ESCMID credentials and click on the “Study Group Elections” icon. Only members with a valid ESCMID membership can take part in the election process; to be able to vote, please be sure to renew immediately your ESCMID membership, should it expire in the coming days.

For any question, contact science@escmid.org

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GARDP Webinar – Assay development for measuring antibiotic accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria

Don’t miss the next GARDP live webinar, where Jessica Blair (Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, UK), Mark Brönstrup (Department of Chemical Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany) and David A. Six (Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., US) will be discussing multiple aspects of assay development for assay development for measuring antibiotic accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria. The question and answer session will be moderated by Alice Erwin (Erwin Consulting LLC).

The webinar will take place on Tuesday 19 May 2020 at 17:00 CEST.

Register for this webinar on the GARDP website.

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CMI highlight: Low rate of SARS-CoV-2 spread among health care personnel using ordinary personal protection equipment in a medium-incidence setting

Between February 23 and March 5, the Monaldi Hospital in Naples, Italy, adopted a diffuse policy of IPC, specifically directed to SARS-CoV-2 containment among HCP, as well as patients. The plan included standard precautions, contact precautions and droplet precautions, and led to a dramatic increase in the use of surgical face masks and hydro-alcoholic gel solutions. Despite of that, in March 2020, 3 nurses staffing the hospital were diagnosed with COVID-19. Here, Durante-Mangoni et al. describe the results of the consequential epidemiological investigation.

The three nurses who were found positive of SARS-CoV-2 after becoming symptomatic for COVID-19 worked in 3 different hospital units. SARS-CoV-2 screening swabs were performed on all units’ personnel as well as all current inpatients. Only one additional nurse, was found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 nasal/oropharyngeal swab. The authors suggest that the propensity of SARS-CoV-2 to spread from person to person within an indoor environment characterized by obliged closed contacts is low, provided ordinary personal protective equipment are used and routine sanitation procedures are implemented.

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