Parent Power Panel – Convener: Jane Plumb (30 mins) – 15.30 pm – 16.00 pm
Parent voices must be at the heart of advocacy, policy-making and care relating to stopping group B Strep infection in babies – three parents share their experiences.
| S1: Charlotte Cleary | |
| S2: Kallie Hess | |
| S3: Debbie Forwood |
Hot Topics – Convener: Dr Angela Koech: Current GBS clinical characteristics and emerging therapies (30 mins) – 16.00 pm – 16.30 pm
| S1: Dr Laura Bonofiglio – Talk: Epidemiology of invasive Streptococcus agalactiae infections in Argentina (10 min) We are going to describe the clinical and microbiological characteristics of GBS isolates recovered in an Argentinean multicentric study of GBS invasive infections. |
| S2: Dr Priscilla Romina De Gregorio – Talk: Preventive effect of probiotic lactobacilli on Streptococcus agalactiae vaginal colonization. (10 min) Maternal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization is a risk factor for infectious disease in newborns. One promising strategy is the modulation of vaginal defence to increase the host’s ability to combat infection. Thus, the effect of probiotic human vaginal lactobacilli on GBS through in vitro and in vivo experiments was evaluated. |
| S3: Dr Tara Randis – Talk: Deciphering the Mucosal Immune Response to GBS Intestinal Colonization (10 min) |
Carol Baker Honorary Lecture – Convener: Dr Clare Cutland talk by Professor Shabir Madhi – 16.30 pm – 17.15 pm
A National Research Foundation A-rated scientist, Shabir A. Madhi is a Professor of Vaccinology in the School of Pathology at the University of the Witwatersrand and Director of the world-renowned Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA).
Closing Comments by Dr Carol Baker.