Programme
| 07:15-08:15 | Industry Breakfast Symposium – Inqaba Biotec Building BRICS: an epidemiologically relevant approach to HPV-based cervical cancer screening – Dr Kreshalen Govender |
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| 08:30-09:15 | Meet the sponsors / Open Trade (Exhibition Area) | Meet the Editors | |||
| 09:15-09:30 | Plenary Session 1 Welcome | ||||
| 09:30-10:00 | Pioneering a proactive state of the art response to HIV – Sikhulile Moyo | ||||
| 10:00-10:30 | Host-Directed Therapies to treat TB lung damage – Mohlopheni Jackson Marakalala | ||||
| 10:30-11:00 | AMR in 2026 – Marc Mendelson | ||||
| 11:00-11:30 | Tea Break | ||||
| 11:30-13:30 | Session 1 – Spotlight on Viruses: Past, Present, and Future Threats | Session 2 -TB Progress: Smarter Strategies, Sharper Solutions | |||
| 11:30-11:50 | Emerging virusses and virus host interactions – Shashank Tripathi | TB guidelines: An update on paediatric TB – Mo Archary | |||
| 11:50-12:10 | Understanding the origins of COVID 19 and evolution of variants of concern – Marietjie Venter | Navigating TB Adverse Drug Reactions – Halima Dawood | |||
| 12:10-12:30 | Characterising HIV infections in declining epidemics – Sikhulelo Moyo | TB vaccine update – Thomas Scriba | |||
| 12:30-12:50 | The risks posed by avian influenza viruses – Megan Shaw | New TB diagnostics – Grant Theron | |||
| 12:50-13:00 | 124 – Missed in Life, Found in Death: The Utility of Post-Mortem Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) in Diagnosing Malignancies in Adults with HIV in South Africa – Marguerite Hall | 129-Rapid TB and resistance detection in a single test – clinical evaluation of the STANDARD M10 MTB-RIF/INH assay on sputum and tongue swabs – Anura David | |||
| 13:00-13:10 | 165 – Serological Responses and Rotavirus Genotype Distribution in Malawian Children presenting with Diarrhoea- End Chinyama | 169-Thalidomide as an Adjunctive Therapy for HIV-Tuberculosis-Associated Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome: A Case Series – Scott Lee-Jones | |||
| 13:10-13:20 | 100- Progress and Persistent Gaps in Early Infant HIV Care: A Multi-Year Cascade Analysis – Valentina Trivella | 18 – Pre-existing isoniazid resistance and newly acquired rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis – Ruan Spies | |||
| 13:20-13:25 | 162 – Respiratory Virome Profiling in Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy at Tygerberg Forensic Pathology Mortuary. – Rochelle Croucamp | 113 -I491F rpoB gene mutations in isoniazid mono-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis – Gabriel Vadivelu | |||
| 13:25-13:30 | 207 -A Comparative Metagenomic Investigation of the Viral Diversity in Faecal Samples from Malnourished and Non-Malnourished Children with Gastroenteritis admitted at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – Marcelle Manyi | 194 -Predictors of Treatment Success Among Patients with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Receiving Bedaquiline-Based Regimens in a Rural South African Setting – Kgothatso Rakgate | |||
| 13:30-14:30 | Poster Viewing /Lunch (Exhibition Area) | Industry Sponsored Lunch Symposium – Pfizer Comprehensive coverage of the current epidemiology profile of DTGNB in the SA context. – Dr. Warren Lowman |
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| 14:30-16:30 | Session 3 – Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV | Session 4 – Vaccines: From Prevention to Resistance | Session 5 – Hard to Crack: Tackling Bone & Joint Infections | Session 6 – Barrier to Burden: Strengthening IPC Systems | |
| 14:30-14:50 | AMR in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and treatment options for resistant gonorrhoea – Ranmini Kularatne | The future of childhood vaccines – Rudzani Muloiwa | The importance of a multidisciplinary approach when managing complex bone and joint infections – Kevin Rebe | Panel discussion: Why IPC systems fail at the bedside? Magda Mocke, Tebogo Louw, Carika Pretorius and David Weber |
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| 14:50-15:10 | HIV associated Pneumocystis pneumonia – Ayanda Trevor Mnguni | Health care worker vaccination – Lerato Mpho Sikhosana | Surgical approaches for prosthetic joint infection management – Thomas Hilton | Economics of IPC – Counting the cost of weak systems – Liezl Henning | |
| 15:10-15:30 | Mycoplasma Genitalium: An update – Precious Mahlangu | Lifecourse vaccination – Sipho Dlamini | Candida prosthetic joint infections – Dr Ying Zhao | Optimizing laboratory testing in IPC – David Weber | |
| 15:30-15:50 | Non-tuberculous mycobacteria in advanced HIV – Halima Dawood | Vaccines for AMR – Denasha Reddy | Therapeutic drug monitoring of linezolid – Warren Lowman | The importance of IPC infrastructure and resources – Tracy Douglas | |
| 15:50-16:00 | 116 – Trends in Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision among men seeking Sexually Transmitted Infections service in South Africa, 2020 to 2025 – Nomfundo Banda | 117-Epidemiological Investigation of Measles Outbreak, Tshwane District, Gauteng Province, South Africa, June-July 2025. – Francinah Maoko | 141- Candida Colonisation in Critically Ill Patients: A Multi-Centre Prospective Cohort Study in Johannesburg, South Africa – Heilisha Dehaloo | 9-Genomic characterization of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical isolates from a suspected outbreak in a neonatal unit at an academic hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa – Rispah Chomba | |
| 16;00-16:10 | 187 – Empirical Prescribing for Opportunistic Infections in Hospitalized People with Advanced HIV Disease in South Africa: Findings from the ADVANCE GERMS-SA Cohort – Jean Philippe Suzor | 131-Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Enterococcus species isolated from poultry production in South Africa – Ruth Mogokotleng | 133-Virulome and plasmid characterisation of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from the West – Amike De Villiers | 112-Ribotyping of South African Clostridioides difficile Isolates to Enhance Genomic Epidem – Hlambani Shirinda | |
| 16:10-16:20 | 84 – Role of Epigentic mechanisms in antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity of clinical urogenital mycoplasmas – Winnie Ramaloko | 47-Human Papillomavirus Genotype Landscape Across Cervical Cytology Grades and Impact of HIV Among Women of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa – Sinazo Kondlo | 31-Digital disruption of antibiotic stewardship: implementation of a centralised technology-enabled clinical pharmacy model – Angeliki Messina | 166-Clinical characteristics and outcomes of invasive antimicrobial-resistant infections in infants <90 days of age – Raheema Adam | |
| 16:20-16:25 | 37-Guidelines uptake, acceptability of a new oral product, and patient pathway in South Africa regarding the sexually transmitted infections Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis – Camilla Wattrus | 160-Emergence of novel G1P[8] rotavirus lineages associated with higher disease severity following vaccine introduction in Malawi – Chimwemwe Mhango | 71-Antibiogram and efficacy of antibiotic regimens of bacterial isolates from bone and joint infections in South Africa – Justyna Wojno | 24-Genomic insights into antimicrobial resistance in colistin-resistant Gram-negative bloodstream isolates from a tertiary hospital in Soweto – Prenika Jaglal | |
| 16:25-16:30 | 102-A silent burden: MASLD and cardiometabolic risk in adolescents living with HIV – Michael Christie | 170-Descriptive analysis of pertussis surveillance data in Ehlanzeni district, Mpumalanga Province, January 2018 – December 2024 – Lillian Mazibuko | 67-Bloodstream infections in adult Intensive Care units across eThekwini KwaZulu-Natal Hospitals – Yesholata Mahabeer | 130-Integrating clinical and wastewater surveillance to track Candida auris in South Africa – Silondiwe Nzimande | |
| 16:30-17:00 | Refreshment Break (Exhibition Area) | ||||
| 17:00-18:00 | AGM -IDSSA | AGM – SASPID | AGM – SASCM | AGM – ICSSA | AGM – SASV |
| 18:00-19:30 | FIDSSA AGM | ||||
| Evening at leisure | |||||
| 07:00 | Registration | |||
| 07:15-08:15 | Industry Sponsored Breakfast Symposium – Pro Med Diagnostics Fungal Fun – Prof Mervyn Mer |
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| 08:30-10:30 | Plenary Session 2 | |||
| 08:30-09:00 | Prioritising fungal infections – Nelesh Govender | |||
| 09:00-09:30 | Paediatric HIV – Mo Archary | |||
| 09:30-10:00 | Leading Beyond the Barrier – Building a Culture of IPC for the Future – David Weber | |||
| 10:00-10:30 | Feedback: WINDSAR and SAASP /Vindana Chibabhai/ Dena van Den Berg | |||
| 10:30-11:00 | Refreshment Break / Poster viewing | |||
| 11:00-12:30 | Session 7 Young FIDSSA – Next Gen ID: Mentorship, Momentum, Mastery |
Session 8 – Managing infectious in compromised hosts: Burns, neutropenia and beyond | Session 9 – Outbreak Alert: Tracking the Re-emerging Pathogens | Session 10 – Forgotten No More: Spotlight on Neglected Diseases |
| 11:00-11:20 | Career development – Lerato Mpho Sikhosana, Precious Mahlangu, Gary Reubenson | Interdiscliplinary approach to Burns care – Arifa Parker | Tracking N.meningitidis in South Africa – Susan Meiring | Hydatid Disease in Southern Africa: When and how to do the PAIR procedure – Jeremy Nel |
| 11:20-11:40 | Cultivating a mindset for thriving in academia, clinical practice and our lives – Dena Van den Bergh | ID management of the neutropenic patient – Lyle Murray | Emergance of vaccine preventable diseases – Charlene Lawrence | Neglected tropical diseases: Progress, challenges and future directions – Sipho Dlamini |
| 11:40-11:50 | 179-Two cases of cutaneous toxigenic diphtheria – is there silent spread? – Jamie Colloty | Optimising antimicrobial dosing in vulnerable patients – Eric de Cloedt | Outbreaks and impact on Health systems – Heather Finlayson | Viral Hepatitis – Tongai Maponga |
| 11:50-12:00 | 43-Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of non-tuberculous mycobacteria in the Western Cape, South Africa: A retrospective laboratory surveillance study (2016–2022) – Christoffel Opperman | |||
| 12:00-12:10 | 30-Reducing antibiotic duration at scale: outcomes of a multicentre digital intervention in South Africa – Angeliki Messina | 164-Phenotypic and Genomic Concordance of Antimicrobial Resistance in Invasive Nontyphoidal Salmonella from South Africa – Shannon Williams | 20-Whole genome sequencing of Salmonella Typhi isolated from an urban River in Johannesburg, South Africa. – Sanelisiwe Duze | 218-Are We Seeing Enough? Laboratory-Based Schistosomiasis Surveillance in South Africa – Bhavani Moodley |
| 12:10-12:20 | 16-Molecular typing and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Group B Streptococcus clinical isolates in Pretoria – Olga Kgasha | 204-Pregnancy-Associated Invasive Group B Streptococcal Disease in South Africa, 2020–2024 – Nombulelo Nkabinde | 14-Risk factors for measles re-establishment after achieving elimination – David Durrheim | 79-Molecular and genomic characterisation of Campylobacter spp. isolated from pigs on a commercial farm in South Africa in 2019 – Michelle Lowe |
| 12:20-12:25 | 104-An Unusual Pathogen: Oligella ureolytica Infection in South Africa- A case Report – Lughano Ghambi | 150-ECMO-Antimicrobial Dosing Conundrum – Molly Erasmus | 103-Genomic insights into non-typhoidal Salmonella from an urban river in Johannesburg, South Africa – Sanelisiwe Duze | 88-Improving detection of Balamuthia mandrillaris in South Africa through molecular diagn – Shareen Boughan |
| 12:25-12:30 | 87 – Integrating Climate Information into Diarrhoeal Disease Preparedness: Opportunities for Climate-Informed Early Warning in South Africa, Botswana and Kenya – Janine Wichmann | 190-Tracking Measles and Rubella Risk in South Africa: A Public Dashboard – Grace Carmichael | 32-Onychomycosis in KwaZulu-Natal – is fluconazole still appropriate? – Yesholata Mahabeer | |
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch / Poster Viewing into lunch (Exhibition Area) | Industry Sponsored Lunch Symposium – GSK | Industry Sponsored Lunch Symposium – Cepheid Faster Answers, Better Outcomes: Managing GI Pathogens with Rapid PCR – Dipti Lallubhai – Senior Medical Affairs Manager, Cepheid |
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| 13:30-15:00 | Plenary Session 3 | |||
| 13:30-14:00 | Host-directed antivirals – Megan Shaw | |||
| 14:00-14:30 | Artificial Intelligence in Infectious Diseases: Hype, Hope and Hard Reality – Nicolette du Plessis | |||
| 14:30-15:00 | Topical issues in the STI field – Ranmini Kularatne | |||
| 15:00-15:30 | Refreshment Break / Poster viewing | |||
| 15:30-17:00 | Session 11 – Decoding Disease: Diagnostics that Deliver | Session 12 – Global Moves, Local Risks: Travel & Migration Medicine | Session 13 – AMR Unmasked: Fighting the Silent Pandemic | Session 14 – Paediatric ID Frontiers |
| 15:30-15:50 | Diagnostic Stewardship in the Microbiology Laboratory – Ranmini Kularatne | When pathogen travel is visa dependent: the spread of meningococcus – Salim Parker |
AMR surveillance – what we know and what we don’t know in SA. – Warren Lowman | Rethinking Empiric Therapy of Neonatal Sepsis: how to optimise bug-drug match in the era of AMR – Adrie Bekker |
| 15:50-16:10 | Helicobacter pylori: current trends and future insights – Dawood de Costa | Emerging travel infections on the horizon – Lucille Blumberg | MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae:novel approaches to tackle a formidable enemy – Denasha Reddy | Congenital syphilis update – Lisa Frigati |
| 16:10-16:30 | Point of care testing in Microbiology – Andrew Whitelaw | Diphtheria and human migration: Lessons to learn – Arifa Parker | AMR in hospital: huge mortality, lots of questions – Jeremy Nel | CMV in neonates and young children – Helena Rabie |
| 16:30-16:40 | 28-Vitek MS performance for Nocardia spp. Identification – Teena Thomas | 186-Factors Associated with Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Community Health Workers on Malaria Prevention and Control Measures in Bushbuckridge Sub-district, Mpumalanga Province, 2025 – Sizwe Khumalo | 77-Characterization of colistin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from a tertiary-level hospit. – Anjali Silby | 8-Paediatric Pneumonia in the Eastern Cape: Epidemiology, Risk Factors and Outcomes from a Five-Year Hospital Study. – Olufunmilayo Olukemi Akapo |
| 16:40-16:50 | 93-False-positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex signals due to Mycobacterium kansasii cross-reactivity on the Roche cobas® MTB assay. – Christoffel Opperman | 209 – Meningococcal serogroup C disease outbreak in the West Coast District, Western Cape, South Africa, 2025 – Charlene Lawrence | 56-Distribution of van resistance genes among vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Gauteng, South Africa. – Michelle Lowe | 157-Viral infections in sudden and unexplained death in infancy cases admitted to the Tygerberg Forensi. – Corena De Beer |
| 16:50-16:55 | 23-High-resolution profiling reveals extensive co-colonisation and hidden serotype diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae – Lara Van Der Merwe | 121-Probable odyssean malaria cluster in a non-endemic district of North West province, South Africa, October 2025 – Patricia Matamba | 152-Digitally Enabled, Relationship-Centred Antimicrobial Stewardship: Impact of a Remote Digital Clinical Pharmacy Model in South African Private Healthcare. – Martsu Kriel | 33-Neonatal Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in a Quaternary Centre- a landscape of multi-drug resistance – Yesholata Mahabeer |
| 16:55-17:00 | 110-Epidemiological trends and patterns of hepatitis A in South Africa, 2019-2024: a national surveillance analysis.- Thobile Khanyile | 118-Clinical Epidemiology of Invasive Acinetobacter Infections in Adults. – Sulaiman Hassan | 128-Maternal-infant characteristics of preterm and term neonates with bloodstream infections in lower-tier hospitals in South Africa: a cross-sectional study – Vanessa Quan | |
| 19:00 | Conference Gala Dinner (Ballroom West) | |||
| 07:15-08:15 | Registration / Tea Break | ||
| 07:15-08:15 | Industry Sponsored Breakfast Symposium – Beckman Coulter The Escalating Battle: AMR and Its Clinical Implications – Dr. Jamal Wadi Al Ramahi |
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| 08:30-10:00 | Session 15 – Tackling Complexity in Care | Session 16 – One Health, One World: Crossing Species, Sharing Solutions Chair: Wolfgang/Lucille |
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| 08:30-08:50 | SNAP decisions: more than just a different vial – Kessendri Reddy | Rabies in Cape fur seals – Lesley van Helden | |
| 08:50-09:10 | Treatment of gram-negative infections in SA in 2026 – Andrew Whitelaw | Emerging zoonotic infections – Wolfang Preiser | |
| 09:10-09:30 | The in-patient management of the IV drug user – Lyle Murray | Climate Change and Infectious Disease – Cheryl Baxter | |
| 09:30-09:50 | Management of Candidaemia – Nelesh Govender | Living One Health – people, pathogens, pandemics, pasture and prey in practice. – Lucille Blumberg | |
| 09:50-10:00 | Q & A | Q & A | |
| 10:00-10:15 | Refreshment / Comfort Break (Ballroom East Foyer) | ||
| 10:15-11:00 | Plenary Session 4 | ||
| 10:15-11:00 | Rapporteur Session | ||
| 11:00-12:00 | Ethics – Bridging Inequities: Patient-Centered Approaches to Innovative Treatment Access – Marc Blockman | ||
| 12:00-12:15 | Closing remarks | ||
| 12:15-12:30 | Departure and light snacks | ||
| 13:30 | Workshop 2: WINSA – Womenlift Health | Workshop 1: Mycoses interest group | |