PROTID team represented at the European Conference for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)

12-05-2023

Prof. Reinout Van Crevel (Radboudumc, The Netherlands) and Dr. Irene Andia-Biraro (Makerere University, Uganda) presented at the 33rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), which took place as a hybrid event, both online and in Copenhagen-Denmark.

Prof. Reinout gave a talk onHost-pathogen interactions and immunotherapy in mycobacterial infections” co-organised with the ESCMID Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC), ESCMID Fungal Infection Study Group (EFISG), and ESCMID Study Group for Respiratory Viruses (ESGREV). The presentation focused on how antimicrobial therapies alone are insufficient to improve patient outcomes, as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, underlining the relevance of host-pathogen interactions and immunotherapy in infectious diseases. The host response to the pathogen often causes collateral damage, and therapies are required to dampen these harmful responses. Recent advances show how new biomarkers or biosignatures can help direct immunotherapy to improve the outcome of sepsis, fungal infections, and mycobacterial disease. Such host-directed therapy is increasingly important in light of increasing antimicrobial resistance. Prof. Reinout’s session presented a state-of-the-art overview of host-pathogen interaction and immunotherapy in infectious diseases, linking laboratory sciences, clinical trials, and individual patients.

Dr. Irene Andia Biraro presentation focused on “Risk stratification for TB preventive therapy in high- and low-endemic settings” co-organised with the ESCMID Study Group for Mycobacterial Infections (ESGMYC). She addressed how screening for latent tuberculosis infection and preventive therapies are crucial for better control of global tuberculosis (TB) pandemic. Recent studies have brought breakthroughs in the understanding of TB infection and (subclinical) disease, new tests and biomarkers, better ways to predict individual risks for developing TB, and new preventive regimens. Dr. Bariro’s session during the conference symposium presented state-of-art progress in TB infection and preventive therapies; linking discovery science, epidemiology, policy, and clinical practice, with relevance to high- and low-TB-endemic settings.