Emerging infectious diseases in transplant ID
1:30 PM – 3:00 PMRoom C4.5ConcurrentInfectious Diseases
Description
Transplant recipients face a rapidly shifting infectious-risk landscape driven by interacting forces: climate change, global mobility (travel and migration), and the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Changing temperatures and precipitation patterns are expanding ecological niches for vectors and pathogens, altering the geography, seasonality, and intensity of exposures relevant to transplant programs. Global connectivity and population movements accelerate translocation of high-consequence pathogens and variants; even localized events can seed outbreaks internationally within a short window, underscoring the need for agile pre-/post-transplant screening, vaccination catch-up, and travel history workflows. Meanwhile, measles and other “old” threats are resurging at scale due to immunity gaps, demanding updated policies for patient/caregiver/health-care-worker immunization, exposure management, and unit-level outbreak control in transplant centers. This session translates these macro-drivers into pragmatic, measurable actions—linking surveillance signals to transplant-specific risk assessment, operational dashboards, and implementation priorities for programs worldwide. Learning objectives: Map climate-sensitive and mobility-driven risks to transplant-specific prevention and surveillance plans; Update pre-/post-transplant vaccination, travel, and migration-aware screening pathways; Implement measles (and other re-emergent pathogen) readiness: exposure response, staff/patient immunization, and cohorting in high-risk units.