Tackling infection at the heart of intensive care

Each month, ESICM’s Topic of the Month brings together curated scientific content, expert interviews, and key resources from across our 15 specialist sections, helping you explore key themes in depth and stay at the forefront of ICU practice.

Because in a field that evolves as rapidly as ours, continuous learning is the foundation of better care for our patients.

This month, discover the Infection Section, led by Gennaro De Pascale, a community dedicated to advancing the understanding and management of infections in critically ill patients. From pneumonia and intra-abdominal infections to diagnostics, biomarkers, antimicrobial therapy, stewardship, and infection control, the section addresses challenges central to ICU care.

With infections as a leading cause of ICU admission and a major driver of sepsis and septic shock, the section promotes education, collaboration, and research to improve outcomes for patients worldwide.

This month, we invite you to explore our featured scientific interview and curated resources, and to reflect on how infection management, antimicrobial stewardship, and diagnostics shape your daily clinical practice.

Because in intensive care, managing infection is not a single decision, it is a continuous process, from early recognition to targeted treatment and long-term outcomes.

RESOURCES: 

 Webinars & Podcasts
🔹Practical use of fast AST methods for managing BSI & positive blood cultures in ICU
🔹Antibiotics in the ICU – the Scandinavian perspective
🔹Antimicrobial Stewardship in ICU – Why we need it?
🔹Guidelines for the management of severe community-acquired pneumonia
🔹Results from the UNITE-COVID study

LIVE Top Talks
🔹A young man with infection and the kidney in overdrive
🔹Severe Gram-negative MDR infections

ICM Articles
🔹Update on infection: from prevention to diagnosis and management
🔹Severe community-acquired pneumonia: current concepts and controversies
🔹Urinary tract fungus balls in an immunocompromised patient with persistent Candida albicans fungemia

SCIENTIFIC INTERVIEW:

In this month’s scientific interview, Hendrik Bracht (Bielefeld, Germany) explores the evolution of infection diagnostics in the ICU, from traditional blood cultures to PCR and emerging molecular tools. He highlights the limitations of blood cultures, including delays and low sensitivity, and explains how PCR has improved speed and detection. Looking ahead, he discusses promising innovations such as rapid molecular diagnostics and host-response biomarkers that may enhance accuracy and timeliness. Importantly, he emphasises the need for thoughtful integration of these tools into clinical practice, balancing rapid decision-making with cost-effectiveness, diagnostic stewardship, and clinical judgement.