Report on the 6^th World Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases

The 6^th World Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID) was held at Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina from November 18-22, 2009 with 2,700 participants from over 90 countries.

The opening ceremony was held on the evening of 18^th November, 2009 with the opening words by Professor Ron Dagan, President of the WSPID; Dr. Angela Gentile, Chairperson of the Local Scientific and Social Event Committees followed by children choir and a small string orchestra.

The scientific program started in the morning of the 18^th November, 2009 and went on until the 22^nd November, 2009. At the closing, two awards were given to one best free paper and one best poster out of 800 abstracts submitted.

The scientific program included vaccines, nosocomial infections, respiratory infections, immunocompromised patients, emerging infections, the regional societies symposia from Africa, Asia, Australiasia, Europe, North America and Latin America, antimicrobial resistance, infection control, consensus symposium on catheter related infections and quinolone use in children, the world lecture on elimination of rubella and the following 9 meet the professor sessions: update on immunization, pneumonia in developing countries, immunization of HIV-infected child, TB in children, hospital acquired outbreaks, treatment of bacterial respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, bacterial meningitis, children with sore throat.

Eight hundred abstracts were submitted, some were selected for oral presentation and some were selected to be orally presented in the poster walk session.

The 6^th World Congress of the WSPID was a very successful event in opening dialogue of pediatric infectious diseases worldwide, exchanging ideas, sharing new methods of prevention and treatment and breakthroughs, most of all it creates the worldwide partnerships that can cross borders not only to specialists, practitioners, researchers and scientists, but to the patients as well.

The next  World Congress of the WSPID will be held in Melbourne, Australia on 16-20 November 2011.

Professor Usa Thisyakorn, M.D.

President,  9^th International Congress of Tropical Pediatrics, 2011

Council member, Asia Pacific Pediatric Association

Board member, World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases