Infectious Diseases Society of America
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is a prominent scientific association dedicated to the study, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases. Founded in 1963 by medical researchers, the IDSA has grown to include around 12,000 members, primarily comprising scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals. The organization plays a crucial role in shaping national policies related to infectious diseases and antibiotic use, hosting annual meetings and workshops to address pressing issues within the field.
IDSA is involved in extensive educational initiatives, providing resources, guidelines, and awards to its members, as well as fostering mentorship for emerging professionals in infectious diseases. The society emphasizes public health, notably supporting vaccination education and stressing the importance of research into antibiotic resistance. Notably, IDSA has responded to various public health crises, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocates for legislative measures to enhance antibiotic development.
Through its initiatives and programs, IDSA aims to improve the effectiveness of infectious disease treatment and prevention while raising awareness of public health challenges associated with infectious diseases. The organization also interacts with government entities to ensure access to necessary healthcare resources for affected populations.
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Definition
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is a scientific association focusing on identifying, treating, and preventing infectious diseases.
Founding and Mission
In the early 1960s, medical researchers, recognizing the need to establish an organization specifically for infectious diseases professionals, formed the IDSA. It was founded in October 1963. Pneumonia expert Maxwell Finland served as the group’s first president and was joined by 125 charter members. By 2023, approximately twelve thousand persons, primarily scientists, doctors, and medical personnel, were members of the IDSA. Throughout IDSA’s history, leading infectious diseases researchers, including several Nobel Prize winners, served as IDSA officers. Many served on committees that helped shape national and industry policies on infectious diseases and the use of antibiotics.
Members participate in annual meetings and in workshops that focus on specific infectious disease concerns, including bioterrorism. They contribute articles and commentary discussing infectious diseases research in the society’s periodicals, including Clinical Infectious Diseases. The IDSA issues and updates clinical practice guidelines for numerous infectious diseases, such as community acquired pneumonia. The IDSA established its Emerging Infections Network for medical professionals to notify colleagues regarding unique infections or pathogens they have treated. Stressing public health, the IDSA helped establish the National Network for Immunization Information to educate people concerning vaccinations that are essential in preventing the contracting and spread of infectious diseases.
The IDSA recognizes members’ achievements, presenting awards for diverse roles in the infectious diseases field. Through the IDSA Education and Research Foundation, the society encourages young physicians to specialize in infectious diseases by offering postdoctoral fellowships to train with experts. IDSA members often serve as mentors.
Aware that many infectious disease strains become resistant to antibiotics, the IDSA encourages research into the development of new antibiotic formulas to counter these resistant strains. In 2004, the IDSA released the report “Bad Bugs, No Drugs: As Antibiotic Discovery Stagnates, a Public Health Crisis Brews,” which identifies microbes posing the most significant health risks. These microbes are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, floroquinclone-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Aspergillus species, and Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species. The IDSA supported federal legislation, including the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance Act, which would improve federal support for research and development of more powerful antibiotics. By 2022, the organization published extensive guidance on the treatment of antimicrobial-resistant infections.
In early 2010, the IDSA announced its 10 x ′20 Initiative, urging pharmaceutical industries to create ten antibiotics to combat emerging resistant pathogens within one decade (2020). A July 2010 IDSA statement warned that antibiotics associated with livestock and plants raised for food were linked to humans becoming resistant to antibiotics. Critical of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s procedures to approve new antibiotics, the IDSA created its Antimicrobial Availability Task Force. Between 2010 and 2019, fourteen new antibiotics became avaliable, achieving the initiative's goal.
Diseases
The IDSA has addressed influenza pandemic threats and the need for adequate vaccine supplies to protect populations. Leaders stressed the responsibility of governments to control influenza. In the fall of 2005, Walter E. Stamm, IDSA president, wrote to Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, stating that the federal government should procure more antiviral drugs to combat the H5N1 avian influenza. In summer 2009, IDSA leaders suggested procedures for medical professionals to fight H1N1 flu.
In 2000, IDSA formed the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) within its administrative structure to provide support to medical professionals focusing on treating adults and children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or living with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The approximately 3,600 HIVMA members are also members of IDSA. Through HIVMA, IDSA sponsors the AIDS Training Program, in which members teach (at Uganda’s Makerere University) physicians from developing countries about HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. The program is part of the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa.
The guidelines of the Lyme Disease Review Panel of the IDSA provoked controversy because it states that Lyme disease is not a chronic condition and does not require intensive antibiotic treatment. The panel warned that prolonged antibiotics exposure might cause medical complications or result in resistance to antibiotic drugs. Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal questioned the panel’s scientific credibility. Panel chair Gary Wormser defended the IDSA’s position. In 2010, an autonomous review panel declared that the IDSA panel’s conclusions were sound.
Impact
The IDSA has been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen public health standards, to implement improved prevention programs, to improve the treatment of people suffering from infectious diseases, and to encourage innovative research that analyzes pathogens and develops the means to destroy them. The society’s resources have aided infectious disease professionals to perform their work effectively and to enhance that specialty. By 2010, the IDSA helped train more than 360 African doctors participating in the AIDS Training Program to help mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on that continent. In 2020, the organization began research and response measures to COVID-19, and in 2023, one of their four strategic priorities was to lead the nation in successful preparation and response in future pandemics. In 2022, the organization began focusing on a response to monkeypox, applying the knowledge of response techniques learned during the COVID pandemic.
Frequently interacting with all levels of government, the IDSA asserts the importance of access to scientifically based health care and effective antibiotics. For example, the IDSA intervened when state drug programs’ limitations deprived patients of sufficient medications for infectious diseases. Furthermore, IDSA educational material increases the public’s awareness of infectious diseases and demonstrates the need for governments and medical professionals to prepare for potential health threats by new pathogens.
Bibliography
Boucher, Helen, et al. “Bad Bugs, No Drugs, No ESKAPE! An Update from the Infectious Diseases Society of America.” Clinical infectious diseases: an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, vol. 48, no. 1, 2009, pp. 1-12. doi.org/10.1086/595011. Accessed 8 Mar. 2023. Emphasizes the need for diverse groups’ collaboration with IDSA to achieve potent antibiotics to control the most dangerous infectious diseases pathogens.
Kass, Edward H., and Katherine Murphey Hayes. "A History of the Infectious Diseases Society of America." Reviews of Infectious Diseases. University of Chicago Press, 1988. A comprehensive history of the IDSA and its activities through 1987. Photographs, figures, appendices, endnotes.
Spellberg, Brad, et al. “The Epidemic of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections: A Call to Action for the Medical Community from the Infectious Diseases Society of America.” Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 46, no. 2, 2008, pp. 155-164. doi.org/10.1086/524891. Accessed 8 Mar. 2023. Looks at what impedes the prevention and control of infectious diseases. Suggests ways to resolve this public health crisis.
Talbot, George H., et al. “Bad Bugs Need Drugs: An Update on the Development Pipeline from the Antimicrobial Availability Task Force of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.” Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 42, no. 5, 2006, pp. 657-668. doi.org/10.1086/499819. Accessed 8 Mar. 2023. Provides details about antimicrobial resistant diseases posing the greatest public health risks.