IPFA/PEI 30th International Workshop on Surveillance and Screening of Blood-borne Pathogens
In the beautiful Musikhuset Aarhus, an exciting Workshop took place in a new setting compared to previous years and was attended by 150 delegates from 28 countries. Twenty one scientific lectures were presented. Ample room was reserved for Q&A with speakers in a lounge setting on the stage and delegates participating using a catch-cube microphone for questions and comments, making the atmosphere comparable to an informal room setting instead of a lecture theater.
The meeting was opened by the host Christian Erikstrup (Aarhus University Hospital) and two researchers from his group who described innovative ways of using blood donor databases to address broader health-related research questions using data from the Danish Blood Donor Study.
This was followed with inspiring ideas from the keynote speaker Tulio de Oliveira on molecular surveillance for detection of emerging and evolving pathogens, who showed that pathogen genomic surveillance to respond to epidemic threats is now moving forward rapidly – adventure science.
Updated data and information were presented on subjects typically presented at these Workshops such as on HIV, PrEP and MSM donors, hepatitis B, hepatitis E virus, and vector-borne diseases. Viruses change behavior and prevalence worldwide due to climate change, worldwide travel, mutations, regional vector changes, and resistance to therapies with consequences for testing and screening – emerging pathogens continue to be of utmost interest. Therefore recent data on human polyomaviruses, human pegiviruses and anelloviruses and the relation to their hosts, were important subjects of discussion.
The newly announced ‘Australian Plasma Pathway’ was described which will safely increase donor eligibility for plasma donation, raising questions on which safety requirements are needed and can be expected in the near future.
In blood transfusion medicine, safety for donor and patient is paramount. Therefore screening for pathogens with special attention to testing versus pathogen reduction including the methods used, yield of proteins and reduction capacity were presented with special attention to HIV, HBV, HCV, HTLV-1, HEV and bacteria transmission. Data on the newly discovered human circovirus, tick borne encephalitis virus and thogotovirus were presented. Blood donor screening and surveillance can contribute and inform public health initiatives. For that reason, developments were included in the programme such as the welcome return of UK plasma following a review on variant CJD and its relevance to blood and PDMP safety, recent HCV studies in the South African donor population and HIV genetic surveillance and its implications for public health and blood screening.
In presentations from supporting industry, updates were given on their developments and educational programmes in support of the transfusion medicine community.
A very important moment in the meeting was the presentation of the IPFA Award to Dr Jeh-Han Omarjee of the National Bioproducts Institute, South Africa. She received this Award for her excellent contributions to the Plasma from Africa for Africans project by improving plasma quality and supply in sub-Sahara Africa.
As is the tradition, we could enjoy a wonderful dinner and social event, this time at the “Tivoli Friheden” amusement park where friends and colleagues were able to meet and enjoy each others company and make new contacts.
This 30th Anniversary meeting of the IPFA/PEI annual workshop was characterized by the same high quality and stimulating scientific presentations, engaging discussions with the audience as delegates have seen in this long series of workshops which started in 1994, and have evolved with the help of many collaborators into the joint workshop with PEI it has been for the last 20 years.
With heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to the success of this year’s meeting, we are now looking forward to next year’s meeting in Heidelberg, Germany!
