Invitation

On behalf of the Australian Society for Antimicrobials I would like to invite you to the Society's 6^th Annual Scientific Meeting "Antimicrobials 2005" to be held at the Cumberland Lorne Resort on Thursday 24^th - Saturday 26^th February 2005.

Unlike previous meetings which have been held in Sydney and Melbourne, Antimicrobials 2005 will be held in Lorne in country Victoria. Less than two hours from Melbourne along the Ocean Road, Lorne is bordered by the Southern Ocean and the lush rainforests of the Otway Ranges.

I am pleased to announce Keith Klugman from the Emory School of Medicine, in Georgia, USA and Gunnar Kahlmeter from Swedish External Reference Laboratory on Antimicrobial Resistance, Vaxjö, Sweden will be participating at the meeting. Keith will be presenting the plenary "Risk Factors for Antibiotic Resistance in the Pneumococcus: Impact of HIV and of Conjugate Vaccine", while Gunnar will be presenting the plenary "European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Endeavors". Both speakers will also be participating in symposia sessions and the workshop.

The Australian plenary speaker for Antimicrobials 2005 is Professor James McCarthy from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. James will be presenting the plenary "Antiparasitic Agents and Resistance".

The programme's symposia covers many different aspects on antimicrobials including "Setting up Success in HIV Management", "Susceptibility Testing", "Passive Surveillance", "Community Acquired Pneumonia" and "Multiresistant Gram Negatives - Detection and Therapy". In addition we have planned two workshops on Saturday afternoon titled "Update on Susceptibility Testing" and "Update on Reporting Practices". The Scientific Organising Committee have scheduled two proffered paper sessions and a poster session. Delegates are invited to submit their abstracts before Friday 10^th December 2004. Once again ASA is offering travel awards to financial members of the Society who are submitting abstracts for the meeting. These awards include return economy airfare, registration and accommodation. In addition the ASA/bioMérieux travel award will be awarded to an abstract dealing with the identification of bacterial resistance to antimicrobials in a routine clinical setting.

The Infectious Diseases Pharmacists Special Interest Group (IDPSIG) will have their 1^st Annual Meeting at the Cumberland Lorne Resort from Saturday afternoon 26^th to Sunday morning 27^th February 2005. ASA registered delegates will receive complementary registration to this meeting. The Cumberland Lorne Resort - situated along Victoria's famous Great Ocean Road - is a 4 ½ star complex which has recently undergone a total refurbishment. This has included upgrades to all 99 accommodation apartments, the pool area, reception and the purpose built conference centre. The resort offers fully contained spacious one and two bedroom apartments, and a large range of facilities including squash courts, surf equipment, mountain bikes, games room, barbeque areas and a kids club. Delegates may wish to bring their families and extend their stay before or after the meeting exploring the town and the surrounding area. ASA has secured a special deal on the resort's accommodation rates which is only available by registering for the meeting.

To promote discussion and interaction between delegates and the invited speakers the meeting's registration includes all social events including hot buffet breakfasts, lunches, morning and afternoon teas, Welcome Reception and the Conference Dinner.

Melbourne airport (two hours) and Jetstar's Avalon airport (one hour) service Lorne and the surrounding districts. Conference coaches will be available from both airports on Wednesday (23/2), and returning on Saturday (26/2) and Sunday (27/2).

I am confident that you will find the meeting's programme both scientifically stimulating and informative and we look forwarding to meeting you in Lorne.

Keryn Christiansen
President ASA