Virtual Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium will focus heavily on COVID-19
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The 33-year-old Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium will be held virtually for the first time on Nov. 21 and 22.
Program director David W. Kimberlin, MD, said this year’s symposium will place a “major emphasis” on the COVID-19 pandemic and include information “on the virus and how it does what it does, on vaccines in development, and on how we can best ensure that vaccines that are authorized or approved by the FDA are accepted by the Americans who need them.”
“This year’s IDC Symposium promises to be one of the most unique ever,” Kimberlin, the Sergio B. Stagno, MD, Endowed Chair of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s of Alabama, told Healio.
“To begin with, it is the first virtual IDC meeting we have ever had,” Kimberlin said. “Using state-of-the-art technology to bring the meeting to the attendees, rather than the other way around, obviously is the only responsible way to go this year. And while we all will miss seeing and greeting one another in person, it will be a fun and interactive way to make sure the outstanding content of this year’s meeting helps pediatric practitioners in the management of their patients.”
Nonpandemic segments will focus on influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, gastrointestinal infections, tuberculosis and diagnostic assessments. Interactive Q&A sessions also will be available, as well as the popular “Ask Us Anything” panel.
In anticipation of this year’s meeting, we compiled a list of the top stories and videos from the 2019 symposium.
Every pediatrician ‘needs to be able to recognize’ AFM
It is important that pediatricians are able to identify presenting clinical features of acute flaccid myelitis, said Kevin Messacar, MD, pediatric infectious disease physician and researcher at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado. Read more.
‘Shorter is better, just enough is best’ for antibiotic therapy in kids
Physicians historically have relied on arbitrary lengths of antibiotic therapy for a variety of infections in pediatric patients, according to Infectious Diseases in Children Editorial Board Member C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the pediatric infectious disease fellowship program at Vanderbilt University. Read more.
VIDEO: The rise of the anti-vaccine movement
In this video, Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, discusses the rise and danger of the anti-vaccine movement in the United States and globally. Watch video.
Personalized medicine: ‘Optimizing health with data’
Artificial intelligence and metagenomics may have a large impact on the future of personalized medicine and precision diagnostics in particular, according to Matthew Might, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Read more.
VIDEO: The importance of maternal vaccination
Kevin A. Ault, MD, OB/GYN and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, presented an overview of his talk on maternal immunization. Watch video.