60 health professionals, MRF members, staff and helpline nurses filled the Bank of Ireland building in Bristol on 23 June for the MRF20 Bristol Meningitis Seminar - a chance for professionals whose work involves meningitis and septicaemia to hear about the latest developments in the fight against the diseases.
Photos from the conference:
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
MRF Member Aaron Phipps opened the lecture programme talking about life before, during and after meningitis. Aaron lost both legs below the knee and his fingertips to the disease aged 15. Now a confident 26-year-old, he spoke with candour and humour about his experience with meningitis, his long road to recovery, and how the disease changed his view of the world.
Describing meningitis as 'the best and worst thing that's ever happened to me', Aaron turned his experience into a positive force in his life, fundraising for MRF, holding awareness talks and becoming a proficient wheelchair racer who has completed the Great South Run and London Marathon. With sights set firmly on the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, we're expecting to see him on the podium - hopefully wearing an MRF branded vest. He's truly inspirational.
Dr Ros Hollingsworth from Wyeth Vaccines presented 'An introduction to the immune system: how vaccines work'. Her talk was an engaging balance of the biological make-up of the immune system, the science of vaccine development, and helpful analogies to explain difficult concepts about the way our immune system reacts to bacterial challenge. Laypersons such as myself benifited greatly from her colourful analogies - I will forever think of bacteria-killing cells called 'phagocytes' as 'Pac-men'!
Professor Adam Finn from the University of Bristol gave an animated talk (see slides) about the future of vaccines for pneumococcal meningitis, focussing on the development of two new vaccines offering protection against a greater number of strains of the disease. Professor Finn was filmed by BBC Points West for an upcoming piece on vaccine development.
Before breaking for lunch, we learned about Pharmacovigilance - the duty of care exercised by a pharmaceutical company over a product once it has been launched. Dr Elizabeth Shiferaw from GlaxoSmithKline explained abut the checks and balances in place to monitor vaccinations once incorporated into the childhood immunisation programme.
After lunch, MRF Head of Helpline and Membership Shirley Gieron updated health professionals and Helpline nurses on the services offered by the Foundation to our Members. Highlighting the re-launch of our website, Shirley demonstrated the power of our online Book of Experience - a key resource for Members and anyone with concerns about the diseases. Members can use the Book to find case studies of people who've been through a similar time, and learn from their experience.
Dr Mary Slack from the HPA Centre for Infections gave the penultimate lecture on Comparative management of different types of meningitis, providing vital information for our Medical Advisory Service (MAS) Helpline nurses. Dr Caroline Trotter from the University of Bristol gave the final lecture on the impact of a potential vaccine for Group B Meningococcal meningitis (MenB) and the challenges that still remain once MenB is vaccine preventable. It was fascinating to hear how implementing a vaccine changes trends in epidemiology and that a vaccine for Men B is not the death-knell for the diseases here in the UK.
The seminar was a great success and is growing in popularity year on year. Health professionals benefited from the in-depth knowledge of the speakers whilst laypeople like myself found the talks accessible and informative. It was great to hear the latest progress in the fight against meningitis and septicaemia, and we're looking forward to communicating these with our Members.
MRF would like to thank all the lecturers for their time and expertise, and the Bank of Ireland for the kind use of their facilities. We'd also like to thank Wyeth Vaccines and GlaxoSmithKline for sponsoring the event, and all the delegates for attending. Next up: 'Meningitis and septicaemia in children and adults' at the Royal Society of Medicine, London, on 11 - 12 November. Places still available, contact Paul George for information.
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Posted in MRF News by Neil Hardman on 25 June 2009 at 12:00 AM
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