Scientists gather to tackle highly lethal destructive soft tissue infections
15 January 2013 - 17 January 2013
Austria
Bacteria that normally cause uncomplicated infections like tonsillitis can, in rare cases, lead to necrotising soft tissue infections, a feared and rapidly progressive form of deep tissue infection. The disease, which is estimated to strike around one hundred people every year in the Nordic region, can lead to amputation and, in over 30 per cent of patients, death. To explore the causes of these severe processes, the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet is launching a new EU-funded project, INFECT.
“We will be studying the entire course of events, from how the patient is first identified to how bacteria and host-specific properties influence the progression of the disease in time and space,” says Professor Anna Norrby-Teglund, who is co-leading the project with Dr Mattias Svensson, docent, both at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medicine in Huddinge.
Over the coming days (15–17 January), researchers and doctors from ten countries will be gathering in Stockholm, Sweden, to start work on the project, a key part of which is to establish a patient registry in order to produce guidelines for classification and treatment. They also hope to create quicker diagnostics and new, improved therapies. Participating in the project are 14 partners from Swedish, European and American universities and hospitals.
Also taking part in the meeting will be Doreen Marsden, who lost her previously healthy 23-year old son to a sudden deep tissue infection in 1999, inspiring her to found the The Lee Spark NF Foundation, one of INFECT’s 14 partner bodies.
The EU FP7 Health project INFECT (Improving Outcome of Necrotizing Fasciitis: Elucidation of Complex Host & Pathogen Signatures that Dictate Severity of Tissue Infection) engages 14 partners from 10 countries: Sweden (with Karolinska Institutet as coordinator), Denmark, Norway, USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Austria and Great Britain.
About the project:http://www.fp7infect.eu/
For further information, please contact:
Professor Anna Norrby-Teglund
Tel: +46 (0)70-7923526
Email: Anna.Norrby-Teglund@ki.se
Associate Professor Mattias Svensson
Tel: +46 (0)70-6781842
Email: Mattias.svensson@ki.se
Doreen Marsden
The Lee Spark NF Foundation
Email: info@nfsuk.org.uk
Contact the Press Office at Karolinska Institutet: http://ki.se/pressroom(opens in new window)
More about Karolinska Institutet – a medical university: http://ki.se/english(opens in new window)
“We will be studying the entire course of events, from how the patient is first identified to how bacteria and host-specific properties influence the progression of the disease in time and space,” says Professor Anna Norrby-Teglund, who is co-leading the project with Dr Mattias Svensson, docent, both at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medicine in Huddinge.
Over the coming days (15–17 January), researchers and doctors from ten countries will be gathering in Stockholm, Sweden, to start work on the project, a key part of which is to establish a patient registry in order to produce guidelines for classification and treatment. They also hope to create quicker diagnostics and new, improved therapies. Participating in the project are 14 partners from Swedish, European and American universities and hospitals.
Also taking part in the meeting will be Doreen Marsden, who lost her previously healthy 23-year old son to a sudden deep tissue infection in 1999, inspiring her to found the The Lee Spark NF Foundation, one of INFECT’s 14 partner bodies.
The EU FP7 Health project INFECT (Improving Outcome of Necrotizing Fasciitis: Elucidation of Complex Host & Pathogen Signatures that Dictate Severity of Tissue Infection) engages 14 partners from 10 countries: Sweden (with Karolinska Institutet as coordinator), Denmark, Norway, USA, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Austria and Great Britain.
About the project:http://www.fp7infect.eu/
For further information, please contact:
Professor Anna Norrby-Teglund
Tel: +46 (0)70-7923526
Email: Anna.Norrby-Teglund@ki.se
Associate Professor Mattias Svensson
Tel: +46 (0)70-6781842
Email: Mattias.svensson@ki.se
Doreen Marsden
The Lee Spark NF Foundation
Email: info@nfsuk.org.uk
Contact the Press Office at Karolinska Institutet: http://ki.se/pressroom(opens in new window)
More about Karolinska Institutet – a medical university: http://ki.se/english(opens in new window)