Devoted to medical education
on paediatric viral infections
“Advanced low-risk viral vectors are expected to lead to breakthroughs in the field of gene therapy.’’
Paediatric Virology //
Paediatric Virology is a new, rapidly increasing, scientific branch of medicine, which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of viral infections occurring in neonates, children and adolescents.
During the last two decades, new advances in the field of Virology and Molecular Medicine have expanded the level of knowledge on peadiatric viral infections. New viral infections are constantly emerging requiring new prevention strategies and therapeutic protocols. In addition, paediatric professionals are involved more and more in the specialised paediatric care and follow-up of patients with a history of viral infections, who survive to adolescent years and beyond, transplant recipients and immunocompromised children requiring advanced medical care technological services.
The development of new vaccines, antiviral agents and diagnostic tests ensure new perspectives in Paediatric Virology. Additional scientific fields, including Evidence-based Medicine, Clinical Governance, Quality Improvement, Epidemiology, Pharmacology and Immunology, have also a significant supportive input. Moreover, newfound social issues have arisen due to the financial crisis and the unprecedented immigration occurring globally and in Mediterranean countries, in particular.
These developments, changes and challenges highlight the demand for state-of-the-art undergraduate, postgraduate and continuous medical education of health professionals on Paediatric Virology. Recently, Paediatric Virology was proposed as a new separate candidate for suspecialization in Paediatrics (Mammas IN, Greenough A, Theodoridou M, Spandidos DA. Paediatric Virology: A new paediatric subspecialty? A proposal at the Workshop on Paediatric Virology, Athens, October 10, 2015. Exp Ther Med. 2016;11:3-5). In the future, paediatric virologists are expected to play a key clinical, research and academic role in the effective management of paediatric viral infections.
“It is particularly important for young paediatricians to have a good knowledge in the field of Virology.”
“During the past decades, Virology has significantly contributed to explaining many infectious diseases in Medicine and been extremely useful for the understanding of many diseases.”
“It is certainly beneficial of all paediatricians to have a good knowledge of Virology; the two recent heath crises, ebola and zika, are clear examples."
“Due to the expected expansion of new knowledge on the field of neonatal and paediatric viral infections in the near future, Paediatric Virology can be considered carefully as an excellent candidate of a new paediatric subspecialization.”
Professor Harald zur Hausen
MD, PhD
Professor of Virology, Deutsches
Krebsforschungszentrum
(Germany)
Professsor Tina Dalianis
MD, PhD
Professor of Tumour Virology,
Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)
Professor Michael Weindling
MD, FRCPCH
Professor of Perinatal Medicine,
University of Liverpool (UK)
Professor George Chrousos
MD, ScD
Professor of Paediatrics and Endocrinology, University of Athens (Greece)
“The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit is an excellent school for paediatric trainees on paediatric viral infectious diseases.’’
Dr John Papadatos
MD
Clinical Director & Consultant Paediatric Intensivist,
“P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital (Greece)
“Advanced low-risk viral vectors are expected to lead to breakthroughs in the field of gene therapy.”
Professor Basil Darras
MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology (Pediatrics),
Harvard University (USA)
“Paediatric Virology is a field that during the last years is increasing exponentially.”
Professor Anna Kramvis
MSc, PhD
Professor of Virology, University of Witwatersrand (South Africa)
“Good medical history and detailed physical examination are the necessary basis for the diagnosis of paediatric viral infections .”
Dr Nikolaos Myriokefalitakis
MD, PhD
f. Clinical Director & Consultant Paediatrician, “Penteli” Children’s Hospital (Greece)
“Paediatric Virology is a rapidly increasing educational challenge; our ability to prevent and treat viral infections is rapidly increasing.”
Professor Anne Greenough
MD, FRCPCH
Professor of Neonatology & Clinical Respiratory Physiology, King’s College London (UK)
“I think the biggest therapeutic challenges this century will be treating children infected with both newly emerging and re-emerging viral illnesses.”
Dr Prakash Thiagarajan
MD, FRCPCH
Consultant Neonatologist & Paediatrician, Noble's Hospital
(British Isles)
“Great strides have been made in recent years with regards to an RSV vaccine or new monoclonal antibody, with more than 40 candidates currently in development.”
Dr Simon B. Drysdale
MBBS, FRCPCH, PhD, PgDip PID
Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases, St George’s University of London (UK)
“There is momentum in the field of Paediatric Virology as new antivirals and vaccines emerge and are finally becoming available to children.”
Professor Barbara Rath
MD, PhD, HDR
Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Vienna Vaccine Iniatitive (Germany)
Université Bourgongne Franche - Comté (France)
University of Nottingham School of Medicine (UK)
