Scientific report 2020 of the Infectious Diseases Working Party (IDWP)
Major achievements
In May 2020, in the middle of SRAS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Chair and Secretary of the IDWP changed. Now, Rafael de la Camara (Madrid, Spain) is the Chair and Dina Averbuch (Jerusalem, Israel) is the new Secretary. We have to thank Dr Jan Styczynski and Dr Malgorzata Mikulska, previous Chair and Secretary, for the excellent work done in the previous four years with a characteristic friendly attitude.
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been an important focus for IDWP. At the early stage of the pandemic, the IDWP produced guidelines for the management of SARS-CoV-2 in SCT. The first one was released on March the 1st, and the last update (the 12th version) on December the 2nd, 2020.
As SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has broader implications for SCT and cellular therapies, that goes further from the infectious aspects, a COVID-19 task force has been created to have a holistic approach to the effects of the pandemic. The IDWP is part of this new task force.
In 2021 we are going to launch an annual online certificated course on Infections in HSCT recipients (with an exam and CME credits), that we think will contribute to a better knowledge and management of these frequent complications of HSCT.
The IDWP will incorporate several Subcommittees to push forward the research and education of the different infections.
Principal research studies
- Impact of Covid-19 on stem cell transplant recipients and CAR-T cell recipients. prospective NIS. PI: Per Ljungman
- Prospective evaluation of central nervous system (CNS) complications following HSCT. PI: Martin Schmidt-Hieber
- Impact of pre-existing Aspergillosis on Transplant (IPAT). prospective NIS in patients with AML, ALL, MDS, MPAL. PI: Olaf Penack
- Upper and/or lower respiratory tract infection caused by human metapneumovirus after allo-HSCT. PI: Jose Luis Pinana
- Infectious complication in patients with multiple sclerosis undergoing autologous stem cell transplant. Retrospective registry-based cohort study. PI: Malgorzata Mikulska.
Key publications
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oral presentations | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Poster presentations | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
International educational events | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Major educational courses
- 23rd IDWP Educational Course “Infectious complications following HSCT: Vision 2020” – Oct 28-30, 2020 / [Virtual].