Mission & Objectives


Objectives

  1. Provide information about the prevalence of parasitic infections in different parts of Europe
  2. Provide information on clinical policies and practices within Europe
  3. Provide comparisons of diagnostic performances of different assays including quality control
  4. Provide information on parasitic infections in immunocompromised patients

Background

Parasitic infections have a world-wide distribution with high prevalence in warmer climates. Due to an ever increasing rate of travelling parasitic infections are always relevant as a differential diagnosis for the clinicians in Europe when a person returns in a state of unhealth from a warmer climate. There are also endemic parasites as Toxoplasma gondii and worms. With an increased number of individuals with immunosuppression living ordinary lives parasitic infections has increased and will most probably continue to do so. Due to global warming it is likely that parasites will increase in number and species in Europe in the near future. Knowledge in this field and updated information on the current situation is of value for clinical practice and for decisions makers with influence over funding for research and control measurements.

In the context of bone marrow transplantation and stem cell transplantation, profound immunosuppression leads to a high rate of infectious complications. Parasitic infections occur as opportunistic infection in patients who undergo BMT or organ transplantation. These infections are rare and thus difficult to handle for the individual clinician. An educational platform as ECCMID supplies is of value to support and promote good clinical practice in this field.

Also, a reappraisal of the prevalence of parasitic infections as toxoplasmosis in various groups of immunocompromised patients and its clinical impact is needed. Further, the recent developments in diagnostic assays, including PCR assays, need to be evaluated in a large number of patients, preferably in a multi-centre study because the number of these patients in each single centre is comparatively small.

This Study Group has been founded as the ESCMID Study Group on Toxoplasmosis (ESGT) in 2003 and has been expanded to the field of Clinical Parasitology (ESGCP) in 2007.