The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is an organization of physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals dedicated to promoting human health through excellence in research, education, prevention, and care of patients. The Society pursues and represents the concerns of its membership by its organizational structure, journals, meetings, and additional activities.

In 1997, the Society's Scientific Program Committee presents its first stand-alone annual meeting which provides new opportunities for expanded programming and participation. Included in this year's program are plenary sessions, various concurrent symposia, slide and poster sessions offering opportunities for oral presentations of abstracts, and professional workshops and training courses.

The Society's Scientific Program Committee has attempted to cover the broad field of infectious diseases in a way that will be useful to academicians, clinicians, public health practitioners, and all others interested in infectious diseases.

Following are selected conference summaries are reported exclusively for The Body by Kenneth H. Mayer, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Community Health at Brown University, the Director of the Brown University AIDS Program, and Chief of the Infectious Disease Division, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island (Pawtucket).

Funding for this conference coverage at The Body is provided, in part, through an unrestricted educational grant by Bristol-Myers Squibb Immunology.

Conference Summaries:

• Genotypic Analyses of HIV Isolates for Antiviral Resistance Mutations from Source Patients Involved in Occupational Exposures
• Molecular ZDV Resistance and the Risk of Perinatal HIV-1 Transmission in the Women and Infants Transmission Study
• Maternal Viral Genotypic Zidovudine (ZDV) Resistance and Infrequent Failure of ZDV Therapy to Prevent Perinatal Transmission
• A Study to Evaluate the Clinical and Virologic Efficacy of a Crixivan, DDI, and D4T Combination
• An Open Label Pilot Study for the Efficacy and Tolerability of Once Daily DDI Versus Twice Daily DDI
• Safety and Efficacy of Once-Daily Dose of Didanosine (DDI)
• Effects of Switching from Saquinivir Hard Capsule (SQV-HC) to Saquinivir Soft Gel Capsules (SQV-SGC) or Indinavir (IDV)
• Effects of Atovaquone (A) Versus Dapsone (D) in the Prevention of PCP for Patients Intolerant to Trimetheoprim-Sulfa
• Impact of DMP-266, A New, Unapproved NNRTI, with Indinavir, and D4T