This sponsored session will focus on raising awareness of the potential impact of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in young people and advances in preventative strategies. The distinguished faculty will provide expert perspectives on key challenges as well as discuss the most important unmet needs which still need to be addressed to reduce the burden of disease in children and adolescents, and the impact on their families.

Fernanda Rodrigues
Director of the Paediatric Emergency Service and Infectious Diseases Unit at Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra in Coimbra, Portugal, and a professor at the University of Coimbra School of Medicine.

Prof. Ener Cagri Dinleyici
Professor of Paediatrics at the Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir, Turkey.

Elena Moya
Survivor of meningococcal meningitis, and a member of CoMO (Confederation of Meningitis Organisations).

Markus Knuf
Academician and pediatrician in the fields of neonatology, pediatric neurology, infectology and pediatric intensive medicine in his role as chief physician at the Clinic for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in Worms, Germany.

• Fernanda Rodrigues – Welcome and Introduction
• Video Presentation – Protecting our future – Impact and prevention of IMD in the young
• Ener Cagri Dinleyici – The changing epidemiology of IMD in the post-COVID era
• Markus Knuf – Expanding our armamentarium against IMD in children and adolescents
• Elena Moya – Improving awareness and IMD vaccination uptake in younger people – The role of the family and patient associations
• Live Q&A

RSV is a highly transmissible seasonal virus which can be responsible, in some cases, for unpredictable and potentially severe outcomes in infants. RSV is a frequent cause of respiratory disease, which can include bronchiolitis and/or pneumonia, in infants and is a leading cause of hospitalisations, most of which are in otherwise healthy infants born at term. Historically, a preventive option for the broad infant population has not been available, but newer strategies and approaches could potentially change the RSV disease prevention landscape. This expert-led, interactive symposium will provide an update on strategies and approaches for prevention of RSV disease and considerations for implementing national RSV prevention programmes.

The goal of this Scientific Theatre session is to understand from expert pediatricians about the main challenges they are facing in their daily practice, including vaccine hesitancy, logistic constraints, interactions with parents, pandemic impact on pediatric vaccination coverage among others. During the event, a pre-recorded video-interview of pediatricians, sharing their best practices and insights related to pediatric vaccination hot topics, will be presented and moderated within an interactive session. 

During the Scientific Symposium, a panel of world-renowned experts will discuss the issue of post-pandemic immunity debt, covering mechanism and consequences as well as the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases and recent outbreaks in pediatric populations.

JOIN OUR EXPERTS PANEL in an engaging discussion about MenB vaccination! 2023 is a special momentum as we are celebrating 10 years after the first approval of Bexsero. The objective of this symposium is to share the rational for implementation of new recommendations & National Immunization Programs and to present the recent impacts of MenB vaccination. For that reason, we are inviting different speakers from several countries to share their experience through a discussion.

References: 1. Bexsero SmPC 2022. Available at: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/productinformation/ bexsero-epar-product-information_en.pdf 2. Thompson MJ et al. Clinical recognition of meningococcal disease in children and adolescents. Lancet;2006;3 67:397-403 3. WHO. Meningitis Factsheet. 2021;1-7. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/ factsheets/detail/meningitis. Last accessed: Feb 2023

Note that this recording is intended for HCPs only.

• Present data from the nanoparticle, protein-based adjuvated vaccine of Novavax, discussing pediatric, adolescent, and adult study results, on COVID-19 and influenza prevention.
• Platform technology aspects, primary, homologous and heterologous booster data, immunogenicity, vaccine efficacy, duration of protection (persistence), variant specific data and safety will be discussed among others.