ESWI has been working with WONCA Europe (the European branch of the world organization of national colleges and academies of general practitioners) since 2009. Both organizations share the objective to improve the management of influenza by general practitioners during seasonal and pandemic outbreaks of flu. This is urgently needed to solve the paradox where primary care physicians play a crucial role in protecting their patients from influenza infection by providing clear, scientific advice about the benefits of influenza vaccination for at-risk groups. But despite the scientific evidence as well as the efforts to encourage influenza vaccination, the overall vaccination rates among risk groups and healthcare workers remain low. A systematic overview of all aspects of influenza from the family physicians’ perspective is hence urgently needed and that is exactly why EUROPREV, a WONCA Special Interest Group dedicated to prevention and health promotion, and ESWI will join forces at the occasion of the WONCA 2017 conference in Prague (28 June – 1 July 2017). ESWI and EUROPREV will  hold a joint symposium on 29 June 2017, gathering experts from various disciplines to discuss the crucial role of care physicians in influenza vaccination and to provide an overview of scientific arguments for primary care physicians to get the annual flu vaccine. The symposium will be chaired by EUROPREV’s Mateja Bulc and ESWI’s Ted van Essen.

View the symposium programme announcement here

Check the WONCA conference website here

Annually occurring influenza remains an important public health problem in Europe. The disease puts considerable pressure on health care services with increased general practice consultation rates, hospital admissions, and excess deaths. It also leads to increased days lost of absence from work and school.

Influenza is a vaccine-preventable disease and WHO recommends vaccination of prioritized groups, including young children (aged 6 to 59 months). Despite WHO recommendations, however, only five EU Member States recommend routine vaccination of healthy children. Obviously, diversity in vaccination recommendations translates in varying influenza vaccine uptake rates in priority groups in general and in children in particular.

Based on the observations above, ESWI developed a tailor-made colloquium programme for leaders in paediatrics, family doctors, paediatricians, public health officials, regulatory authorities and academic influenza researchers. It will address possible hurdles for childhood vaccination, compare the various influenza vaccination programmes and spark the debate on updated, well-balanced policies to better protect children against influenza.

The event will be held at the Faculty Club of the University of Leuven on 14 June 2017.

Participation in the colloquium is free of charge, but places are limited. Check the colloquium programme and register now to secure your seat.

The Sixth ESWI Influenza Conference offers early career scientists a unique opportunity to present their latest work, and to meet and foster collaborations with the international influenza community in a three days high-level conference totally dedicated to influenza.

If you are interested in attending the conference, you are welcome to apply for a travel and accommodation grant. ESWI will provide some 50 bursaries through the ESWI Young Scientist Fund. In fact, the call for applications has just been launched, so do not hesitate to apply and secure your support (deadline is 15 May 2017). Check https://eswi.org/influenzaconferences/young-scientists/ for a quick overview of the conditions and the application procedure.

Seasonal influenza is the most frequent vaccine preventable infectious disease in travellers. Yet, surprisingly, recommendations regarding influenza in travel medicine are scarce. It is therefore high time to harmonize international and national travel medicine guidelines for influenza prevention and treatment. To that end, an expert group of ESWI and ISTM (International Society for Travel Medicine) have reviewed existing flu recommendations for travellers, and listed some interesting suggestions for improvement. Our joint working group has now published its expert opinion paper “Travellers and influenza: risks and prevention” in the Journal for Travel Medicine. Get the full article (pdf) here.