Chairs: Prof. Dr Raquel Duarte (Porto, Portugal), Prof. Dr Herman Goossens (Edegem (Antwerp), Belgium)

Speakers: Dr Eva Polverino (Barcelona, Spain), Dr Cristina Prat Aymerich (Utrecht, Netherlands), Dr Corine Geurts van Kessel (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Fees: Free for ERS members / for non-members
Find out more about becoming a member

Please note: non-members will need to create a free myERS account to register for this activity.

Overview

To ensure proper performance as well as laboratory readiness for emerging respiratory infectious diseases requires awareness, updated training and effective communication between relevant stakeholders. Professionals face fragmented workflows during outbreaks, delaying diagnostics and trials. First step is proper coordination between every local clinical and laboratory teams. This webinar delivers actionable strategies to unify systems for faster target discovery and trial deployment, leveraging EU projects such as DRAGON, VALUE Dx and ECRAID Base.

Variations in clinical practice in different settings regarding diagnosis of the clinical syndromes as well as specific etiologies can make it difficult to estimate the proportion of severe unexplained illness and the required surveillance. Quality assessment systems to ensure right performance and right interpretation are critical. This webinar will discuss and critique diagnostic bottlenecks.

Besides epidemiological reporting, it is important to be aware of the need of maintaining a repository of well characterised clinical samples and to develop and maintain policy for laboratory support in case of outbreaks for which available diagnostic routine is lacking. Not only microbiological but also immunological testing requires training on sample management: collection, handling (biosafety), storage (biobanking) and shipment of sentinel samples where needed. These steps involve both clinical and laboratory teams.

Topics:

• Emerging and (re)emerging infections, major threats and what do we need to be ready for. Lessons from recent outbreaks.
• Are we ready to detect the defined as 'priority' pathogens in any setting? Overcoming resource gaps. Debate about centralised vs decentralised labs.
• Preparing for Disease X: from detection to diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

Format

One-hour webinar format: 45 minutes for presentation, followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.

Learning outcomes

Following this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Apply WHO priority pathogens protocols to local surveillance systems.
• Design integrated clinic-lab workflows for rapid outbreak response.
• Evaluate cost-effective diagnostic algorithms for different settings.

CME credit

An application for accreditation of this webinar has been made to the European Board for Accreditation in Pneumology (EBAP) for 1 CME credit per 1-hour attendance. If accredited, the CME credit will be granted upon attendance of at least 60 minutes during the live webinar only.

What is a webinar?

A webinar closely simulates a lecture-based teaching experience. The speaker can interact with the audience, just as in a classroom setting. During the webinar, you will be asked to share your opinion on issues related to the topic using interactive polls.

All participants will be able to hear the lecturer and see the slides throughout the presentation. As a participant you will be able to pose questions or discuss ideas with the other participants via the text chat facility and the speaker will respond to the questions via the microphone.

Login guidelines

More information will be communicated in due course.

• Please log in to the webinar 20 minutes before it is scheduled to commence. If you have any technical difficulties whilst trying to log in or during the session please contact e-learning@ersnet.org.
• Check Central European Time.
• To achieve the best quality, we recommend to avoid downloading anything from the internet during your connection to the lecture and stopping all other programmes.
• Please also ensure that your audio settings are not set to mute and adjust the volume to a comfortable level.