IDSA '97: Excellent Medical Summaries on Tape

While some of the oral sessions at the IDSA '97 conference in San Francisco presented new research findings, most were reviews or summaries of existing knowledge in different fields of infectious disease. Most of these can be purchased on tape. Some of the speakers used slides -- but usually these were text summaries of the main points, and were read verbatim in the talk. Most of the talks, therefore, can be followed fairly well from the tapes without the slides. (Some of the slides will be available through the IDSA Web site, http://www.idsociety.org.)

These talks were not written for beginners, but for physicians in other specialties who want to learn something about AIDS. Patients who are familiar with the disease will be able to follow most of them.

The tapes cost $11 each, with the Symposium sessions each including several lectures and requiring two tapes. The session numbers (IDSA97-002, etc.) can be used for ordering.

Thirty one sessions were recorded. Here are the ones most likely to interest our readers:

* Symposium: The Evolving Role of Cytokines in the Immunocompromised Host (IDSA97-002, two tapes, includes four lectures):

    Cytokines and AIDS;
    Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor: Role in Patients with HIV Infection;
    The Role of Genetic Factors in Determining Susceptibility and the Severity of Infectious Diseases;
    CSF's and CSF Primed Blood Cells in the Prevention and Treatment of Infections in Cancer Patients.

* Symposium: Pharmacodynamics of Antiviral Drugs (IDSA97-003, two tapes, includes five lectures):
    Historical Overview of the Pharmacodynamics of Anti-Infective Agents
    Pharmacodynamics of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors
    Pharmacodynamics of Nucleoside Analogues
    Pharmacodynamics of Anti-Cytomegalovirus Agents
    Pharmacodynamics of Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors.

* Plenary: STD[sexually transmitted diseases]-HIV Interactions: From Epidemiological Synergy to Patient Management and Public Healthy Policy, Judith Wasserheit, U.S. CDC (IDSA97-023).

* Symposium: STDs and HIV Prevention Strategies: From Biology to Clinical Intervention (IDSA97-035, two tapes, includes four lectures):

    Biology of HIV Transmission: STD Amplifications in vitro and in vivo;
    Prevention of HIV Transmission: Effect of Treatment of STDs;
    Prevention of HIV Transmission: Global Success Stories;
    Can There Be a Vaccine against AIDS? (by David Baltimore).

* Plenary: Progress Towards Eradication of Vertical HIV Infection, John Sullivan, University of Massachusetts Medical School (IDSA97-085)

* Pitting Off Against HIV: Advances in Antiretroviral Chemotherapy (IDSA97-095, two tapes, includes three lectures):

    Pitting New Drugs Against HIV: Advances in Antiretroviral Chemotherapy;
    Targeting the Flexible Pit: Second Generation HIV Protease Inhibitors;
    Drug-Drug Interactions in Antiretroviral Chemotherapy: The Tar Pit or the Tar Baby?

* Plenary: Fresh Perspectives on HIV-1 Infection: Immune Depletion and Repletion in Lymphoid Tissue Reservoirs, Ashley Haase, University of Minnesota Medical School (IDSA97-124).

* Symposium: Opportunistic Infections in HIV: State-of-the-Art and Critical Issues for the Future (IDSA97-126, two tapes, includes three lectures):

    Opportunistic Infections in Patients with AIDS: Their Effect on Disease Progression and the Impact of Active Antiretroviral Therapy;
    CMV Disease in Patients with AIDS: Pathogenesis, Natural History and Future Directions in Treatment and Prevention;
    Disseminated Mycobacterium avium Complex Disease: Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention.
    Opportunistic Infections.

* Antimicrobial Resistance: Evolution and Control (IDSA97-128, 2 tapes, includes four lectures):

Evolution of Resistance;

Intensity of Antimicrobial Use: Its Relationship to Resistance;

Can You Go Home Again?

Review of IDSA/SHEA Guidelines for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Hospitals.

These tapes can be ordered from Sound Images, Inc., 7388 South Revere Parkway, #806, Englewood, CO 80112, phone 303-649-1811, fax 303-790-4230, email SoundImages@compuserve.com. A 12th tape is free if 11 are purchased. Same-day rush service is available. There is a small shipping charge. Call or fax for more information.