3. Würzburger Workshop zur Epidemiologie, Prävention und Therapie der invasiven Meningokokkenerkrankung 2006

Abstract

On October 5th, 2006, the German Reference Centre for Meningococci (NRZM) held the 3rd Workshop on Epidemiology, Prevention and Treatment of Invasive Meningococcal Disease, in collaboration with the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM). Given the recent recommendation of the German Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) for conjugate meningococcal C vaccination of all children in the second year of life, observations from meningococcal C conjugate vaccination campaigns in other European countries were presented and compared to the German situation. Moreover, the newly implemented cluster detection routines employed at the NRZM and their integration into the interactive geographical information system EpiScanGIS were shown. Based on recent experiences from regional outbreaks in Oberallgäu, Sangerhausen, and Greater Aachen, examples for public health intervention were given at the conference. In addition, current developments in the area of meningococcal research, as well as trends in antimicrobial susceptibility were covered. Finally, the latest evidence concerning the clinical management and chemoprophylaxis of this invasive bacterial disease was discussed.

Stability of alginate microbead properties in vitro

“…Alginate hydrogels have received considerable attention for biomedical applications, including cell encapsulation [1–3], growth factor delivery [4–6], stem cell culture [7], and tissue engineering [8, 9] due to their mild gelling conditions, biocompatibility, and physical architecture [10, 11]. The success of these microbeads in biomedical applications depends, in part, on their physical properties.…”