Letter from the Executive Director

Dear Colleague:

On behalf of the Organizing Committee I am delighted to advise you that registration is open for the 14th Symposium on Infections in the Immunocompromised Host, sponsored by the International Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS), co-sponsored by the Swiss Infectious Disease Society and endorsed by the Swiss Transplant Society and the Swiss Society for Hospital Hygiene and the Swiss Society for Hematology.. This symposium will be held on July 2-5 2006 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

The scientific program will be preceded by three symposia sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry on July 2. The three programs will be posted to the web site very shortly.

The scientific and local committees, chaired by our President Prof. Thierry Calandra, have developed a wonderful program that starts with the opening ceremony following the symposia. We will have an exciting opening lecture on Global Warming, by Prof Christoph Shaer. A fascinating topic for all of us, as changes in climate affects not only our daily lives but also management of patients and infectious agents. This will take place from 18:30 19:30 on July 2nd.

Following the opening ceremony we will move to the welcome reception in Le Regent starting at 20:200. Alphorns will be our entertainment and I am told that you will be able to try one of these sometime during the evening. If it s rains we will remain at the congress center for the reception.

The main program starts on July 3 starting with Meet-the-Expert session. These sessions are designed to give participants the opportunity to interact in a small group setting with members of our faculty. You will be giving the opportunity to sign up for thee workshops at registration which opens on-site on July 2 at 09:00. The session will run each day from 3rd to 5th July from 07:30 08:30. The sessions tend to fill up quickly so we urge you to sign up on the July 2nd for all three days.

In addition to the six plenary lectures by experts in the field, there are four roundtables scheduled, which will provide the latest information on the various topics, and we have several special sessions. Importantly, the European Guidelines for the Management of Bacterial and Fungal Infections in Patients with Acute Leukemia will be presented. These Guidelines have been developed jointly by ICHS, EBMT, EORTC-Infectious Diseases Group and the Leukemia Net.

A special session will be held on Infection Control in the Immunocompromised Host, this session is being organized by the Swiss Society for Hospital Hygiene; another special session will be a workshop on Infections in Cancer Patients organized by representatives from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

The Swiss Infectious Disease Society will be joining us for this meeting and will be holding its membership meeting on July 5th at 07:30 08:30. Later that morning they will hold their own special session from 11:30 13:30 which is open to all attendees.

Our Gala dinner will be held on the evening of July 4 at Le Cervin et La Bergerie. Weather permitting we will be sitting outside on their terrace with wonderful views of the Alps. This venue is limited to 300 persons so do book your places early. Transportation will be provided from central Crans locations to the Bergerie. A transportation schedule will be posted at the meeting.

Posted on our web site is an up-to-date booklet and program which has more details on registration, abstract submission etc. I would like to urge you all to consider submitting an abstracts for our meeting. The deadline in March 31 and we will be giving out awards for the best abstract. Accepted abstracts will be published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) and copies of the supplement to IJID will be provided to all delegates at registration. Accepted abstracts will be presented at the meeting in the form of posters in two lunch time poster sessions where we will be providing a sandwich lunch.

An exhibition area will be housed in the foyer and in the poster session /internet café area, please make the time to visit the exhibitors.

The early registration deadline is March 31. Members of ICHS and Members of the Swiss Infectious Disease Society, the Swiss Transplantation Society, the Swiss Society of Hospital Hygiene and the Swiss Hematology Society will all receive a reduce registration fee. The same applies for trainee members of these societies.

I am looking forward to meeting you in Crans-Montana. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Elaine Rinicker

ICHS Executive Director