What you can expect at this year’s conference
IDWeek 2023 Learning Objectives
Update infectious diseases clinicians, investigators, infection preventionists, and pharmacists with state of-the-art developments in the field, including timely reviews of recent advances in clinical care and research and original reports of clinical, translational, and basic research in infectious diseases and healthcare epidemiology. Read more.
Selected Premeeting Workshops
Most IDWeek 2023 workshops are available in-person in Boston, Massachusetts, virtually via a livestream and will be available on-demand to workshop registrants through March 31, 2024. If conference registrants are interested in two or more workshops at the same time, they should register for at least one virtually to watch it later on-demand. Read more.
Opening Plenary to Address AI and the Future of ID
On Wednesday, October 11, the IDWeek 2023 Opening Plenary features a presentation that will describe the fundamentals of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning as applied to medical practice; identify the current and potential applications of AI in infectious diseases; and analyze the role of AI in improving medical diagnosis and treatment planning, including its potential impact on patient outcomes and safety. Read more.
BugHub Is the Heart of IDWeek
The BugHub is a central space at where meeting attendees can gather, network, and take advantage of different IDWeek 2023 and partner society opportunities. The BugHub stage will feature presentations that touch on the great experience of working in infectious diseases and that ultimately lead to greater understanding and treatment of patients as well as stories that go beyond science and medical care. Read more.
In-Conference Coverage
Updating COVID-19 Therapeutics
During a COVID-19 Updates session presented at IDWeek 2023, Jason C. Gallagher, PharmD, clinical professor, Temple University School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, described the current state of COVID-19 treatments. In his presentation titled Update: COVID-19 Therapeutics, Dr. Gallagher covered the latest research, including remdesivir’s efficacy, steroid dosing, metformin in long COVID, and medications in the pipeline as he called for study endpoints to evolve. Read more.
Plenary Explores AI’s Role in the Future of ID
During the IDWeek 2023 Opening Plenary on Wednesday afternoon, Isaac Kohane, MD, PhD, chair of the department, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, described artificial intelligence (AI) fundamentals applied to medical practice, identified current and potential AI applications in ID, including potential pitfalls, and analyzed its role in improving diagnosis and treatment planning. Read more.
Prioritizing Antibiotic Stewardship Policies
Sarah Kabbani, MD, MSc, public health physician, CDC, delineated antibiotic stewardship challenges and opportunities during an IDWeek 2023 session titled Outpatient Antibiotic Use, the Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship and National Stewardship Priorities. Dr. Kabbani emphasized the importance of educational outreach, monitoring, and maintaining a focus on antibiotic-related adverse drug events, in addition to addressing antibiotic overprescribing and resistance issues, to optimize health outcomes. Read more.
Protocol Shortens TB Regimens
On Wednesday morning, Janie Louie, MD, MPh, medical director, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Oakland, California, presented a session during the Tuberculosis (TB) track titled Real-World Application of Short-Course Treatment Regimens. Dr. Louie said that shorter TB treatment courses are needed for a variety of reasons, including greater nonadherence and more adverse events associated with longer regimens. Read more.
Post Conference Wrap Up
Sizing Up C diff Clinical Guidelines
In an IDWeek 2023 Scientific Session titled Challenges in the Application of C. difficile Guidelines in Clinical Practice, Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD, professor, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, highlighted hurdles to exactly applying the updated 2021 ISDA C diff treatment guidelines. She also noted recent C diff product launches, including biotherapeutic medications. Read more.
Algorithm Standardizes Lyme Disease Surveillance
In an IDWeek 2023 session titled Two Decades of Lyme Disease in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration Detected Via Automated Surveillance Methodology, Gina Oda, MS, Department of Veterans Affairs, updated trends in Lyme disease transmission and surveillance. She assessed the impact of global warming and presented an algorithm that “offers simple, efficient, standardized surveillance definition based on electronically available data.” Read more.
Potential Impact of Maternal RSV Vaccine?
What are the healthcare cost savings possible with a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine given to pregnant mothers to protect their newborn children? In an oral abstract presented at IDWeek 2023, Amy W. Law, PharmD, director, global value & evidence, Pfizer, Inc., made the case that a medication currently in FDA review would result in substantial economic and clinical outcome benefits. Read more.
Pharmacist and Physician Roles in Sepsis Stewardship
In the IDWeek 2023 presentation titled The Role of ID Physicians and Pharmacists in Stewardship Sepsis, Sara Cosgrove, MD, MS, delineated how ID practitioners can positively influence the impact of sepsis infection response by leading by example to make infectious diseases and noninfectious diseases diagnoses and apply principles of antibiotic stewardship while understanding what their institutions are doing to ensure compliance. Read more.
