2017 ESCMID ECDC Observerships


4 - 8 September 2017, Stockholm, Sweden

ESCMID supported observers to visit the ECDC for 5 days!

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) hosted a group of 14 ESCMID members for the ESCMID ECDC observership initiative between 4 - 8 September 2017 at the ECDC headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.

These 14 ESCMID observers were joined by observers from the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV) for a five-day orientation programme designed to introduce the ECDC’s activities, role and mandate in supporting public health actions to control and prevent infectious disease in the EU and globally.

The scope of the 2017 visit covered the general activities of the centre, such as surveillance, microbiology support, production of scientific advice and epidemic intelligence to detect emerging communicable disease threats to the EU. Observers also attended presentations on the work of specific programmes at the centre, addressing issues including antimicrobial resistance, vaccine-preventable diseases and influenza. In addition to formal presentations, the programme included several hands-on exercises. The presentations and the hands-on exercises facilitated interaction with ECDC experts and other observers who gained practical experience in creating rapid risk assessments, interpreting molecular typing data, integrating typing data in European-level surveillance and public-health decision making.

The ESCMID observers travelled to the ECDC from all over the world; half came from EU member states, while the other half travelled from the US, Turkey, Uzbekistan, India and Oceania. Their visit reports are available on ESCMID’s website. This is the fifth year of the ESCMID-ECDC observership initiative with feedback from both ECDC staff and ESCMID observers continuing to be positive. Therefore we are pleased to report that the ECDC observership programme will continue in 2018 from 3-7 September.