No need to feel sorry if you missed the 34th Annual Kit Taylor Memorial Lecture. Thanks to the Pediatric Pulmonology team at Golisano Children’s Hospital (our CF Center), you can watch a video of Dr. John LiPuma’s presentation on “Infection Prevention in CF.” Just click here to access the video.
The presentation, which runs an hour and ten minutes, starts with a general description of infection in CF and then covers the Infection Protection and Control Policy adopted by the CF Foundation in 2013. As a member of the committee that produced those guidelines, Dr. LiPuma shared first-hand knowledge of: the information used to develop the guidelines, the process for producing the guidelines, the rationale for changes over time and the ways guidelines are put into effect.
As an epidemeiologist, Dr. LiPuma was very informative in his discussion of the techniques to used to discover the source of infections and how they are spread. Of particular relevance to the new guidelines, he noted the improved understanding of the distances covered by, and longevity of, bacteria in droplet transmission.
Interesting side note: Using video-conferencing technology for the Kit Taylor Lecture implements one of the recommendations to reduce the risk of spreading infection through face-to-face contact.