Reports that President Trump in his State of the Union address would announce plans to end America’s HIV epidemic by 2030 raised hopes and questions among infectious disease and HIV experts.

IDSA is seeking volunteers to apply to serve on the Board of Directors.

Congress is considering draft legislation that would initiate FDA regulation of laboratory developed tests (LDTs). The bill would also set back transplant medicine by 20 years and severely limit the availability of diagnostics for rare infectious diseases, emerging diseases, and unmet needs.

IDSA’s Quality Improvement Committee (QIC) is seeking feedback on the Appropriate Treatment of Initial Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) clinical quality measure concept.

The declaration of a public health emergency in the state of Washington in January 2019, after confirmation of 26 measles cases there, follows a report in December 2018 showing steep climbs and severe outbreaks of the virus worldwide.

The United States will join with other donor countries in October to pledge commitments to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria for the next three years.

HIVMA and IDSA recently updated the Infectious Diseases and the Opioid Epidemic online resource page.

At the invitation of IDSA members, Amanda Jezek, IDSA’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, spoke recently to a group of medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine about federal policy efforts to address antimicrobial resistance and promote antimicrobial stewardship and opportunities for medical students to conduct research on AMR and engage in advocacy on this issue. 

Healio spoke with IDSA spokesperson Kathryn Edwards, MD, FIDSA to get her perspective on findings from a recent study published in Annals of Family Medicine which reports that “repeated inactivated influenza immunization appeared to increase long-term protection against some respiratory illness episodes in children with pre-existing medical conditions.”