Critical Care and Pulmonary Societies Encourage Flu Shots Amid COVID-19 Spread
The members of the Critical Care Societies Collaborative, which includes the ATS, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), strongly urge individuals to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and to receive their influenza (flu) immunizations for the upcoming flu season.
In most years, flu is a major cause of critical illness, respiratory failure, and death. Last winter was an exception, likely because the precautions taken to prevent transmission of the SARS CoV-2 virus were also effective at reducing the spread of flu. With adherence to mask wearing and social distancing waning, we risk returning to prior years’ rates of infection. For example, there were 380,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths caused by flu in 2019-2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Current forecasts for an active flu season foreshadow the potential for lives lost and further stress on a health care system that is already stretched far beyond resource capacity.
Submit Your Nominations for Elizabeth A. Rich, MD, Award
For more than two decades, the Elizabeth A. Rich, MD, Award has been presented to an outstanding woman in the American Thoracic Society who has made significant contributions in the fields of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. We are now accepting nominations for the 2022 recipient! The recipient will be recognized at the Women’s Forum at the ATS 2022 International Conference, at which she will be invited to speak.
Deadline: Nov. 24, 2021
Innovations in Fellowship Education
The ATS is calling for all adult and pediatric fellowship training programs to submit abstracts showcasing innovative education work done within their pulmonary, critical care, sleep, or allergy training programs for consideration for the 2022 ATS Innovations in Fellowship Education Program. We are particularly interested in fellowship innovations addressing racial/ethnic disparities or improving diversity, equity, or inclusion.
Learn more!
Deadline: Dec. 17, 2021
Upcoming Events
Industry Innovations. "Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease (NTM-LD): Individualizing Treatment Goals and Strategies – An Innovative Whiteboard View"
When: 6:30 p.m. ET, Oct. 20, 2021
Register now.
Provided by Med Learning Group, supported by an educational grant from Insmed
The Children’s Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease Research Network (chILD-RN) Special Interest Group Virtual Meeting 2021
When: 12 p.m. ET, Oct. 29, 2021
Register now!
Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2021 Executive Summary on Asthma Management and Prevention
The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) has published an Executive Summary of its updated evidence-based strategy for asthma treatment and prevention. The Executive Summary was published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine on Oct. 18, 2021.
GINA was established through a 1993 collaboration between the World Health Organization and U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop an asthma prevention and management strategy. This strategy is updated each year based on the latest scientific evidence. The GINA strategy is not an official guideline of the American Thoracic Society and has not been endorsed by the ATS Board of Directors.
Read more, including the summary of key recommendations.
