The 43rd Annual and 8th Joint conference of Pakistan Association Pathologists and Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan
43rd Annual and 8th Joint conference of Pakistan Association Pathologists and Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan was organised from 25th to 27th November 2022 in Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi. Professor Afia Zafar was in the organising committee, and Professor Dr Erum Khan chaired the Microbiology Scientific Committee with Drs Kauser Jabeen and Joveria Farooqi as members of the multi-center team.
There were four Microbiology workshops: two held in Aga Khan University on Syndromic testing panels for tropical fever, and automated antibiotic susceptibility testing; one in the Indus Hospital on test Validation and Verification; and one in Liaquat National Hospital on clinical audits. On Saturday, the 26th the specialty specific parallel sessions started from 9 am. The Microbiology program had three sessions on Saturday, and one on Sunday, featuring both national and international leaders in medical microbiology, infectious diseases, and biosafety. The highlights were the high level of original research presented at the conference both as free papers and posters from centers across Pakistan, AKU faculty Drs Mohammad Zeeshan and Najia Ghanchi got first and third prizes, respectively, in poster and Dr Mohammad Arsalan, Microbiology resident, third in oral presentation. Scientific sessions had both academic and practical approaches to diagnostic and antibiotic stewardship, infectious risk assessment and outbreak investigation shared by our national faculty and Dr Natasha Griffith, Georgia State University. Diagnostic and ecological challenges and solutions to emerging vector borne and zoonotic infections were also discussed. Dr David R. Peaper, Assoc. Professor of laboratory medicine at Yale stressed upon interpretative comments on culture results by medical microbiologists, and Professor Dr Rumina Hasan reflected on the role of clinical microbiology in future and the need to adapt to advancing technology. Finally, a lively quiz session by AKU alumni, Drs Fizza Farooqui and Muneeba Ahsan, ended the conference on a light note.
