The New York State Emerging Infections Program

2008 Annual EIP Meeting Overview

Since its inception in 1997, the Emerging Infection Program holds an annual county/laboratory meeting in each EIP area in the spring. The 2008 Annual NYSEIP County/Laboratory Meetings were held in the Rochester, Buffalo, and Albany areas on May 28-30. Laboratorians, Infection Control Practitioners, and Local Health Department staff from each region were invited to participate in the meetings. The meetings this year marked the 11th anniversary of the EIP in New York State.

A variety of topics were covered, including surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease, shiga toxin producing E.coli (STEC) trends, an overview of MRSA, updates on molecular detection of N. meningitidis and CLSI guidelines for S. pneumoniae anti-microbial testing, and an overview national outbreaks and their local impact. In addition, we were pleased to have Matthew Moore, MD, MPH, medical epidemiologist with the Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Disease, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC present of surveillance activities related to Streptococcus pneumoniae in the United States.

All attendees were asked to complete a brief evaluation form at the end of the meetings to assess the content of the meeting and assist in planning future presentations. Almost 100% of respondents rated the overall usefulness of the meeting as "good" (28%) or "excellent" (71%). Future topic suggestions included community-acquired Clostridium difficile, vaccinations, PCR information and updates for clinical laboratories, and hepatitis.

The NYSEIP staff would like to thank everyone who was able to attend the meetings. All your hard work and commitment to the program are greatly appreciated. We continue to strive to make these meetings timely, relevant, and informative. We are always grateful for any input that may assist us in these efforts.

Presentations:

• Lessons Learned from Surveillance for Invasive Pneumococcal Disease following Conjugate Vaccine Introduction (PDF -- 356K)
• Shiga Toxin-producing E.coli (STEC): NYSEIP Surveillance and Laboratory Updates (PDF -- 174K)
• The Wheel Reinvented: MRSA in the Public Eye (PDF -- 498K)
• Molecular Detection and Characterization of Neisseria meningitides and Changes in the CLSI Guidelines for Streptococcus pneumoniae Anti-microbial Susceptibility Testing
• National Outbreaks: Impact Locally (PDF -- 895K)

The above documents are available as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required to view and print these documents. Requests for the documents in an alternate format can be requested by contacting the EIP office at (518) 473-4436.