On The Web: Columbia Professors Help Cystic Fibrosis Patients Fight Infection The Virtual Way

On January 12, Columbia University Medical Center experts joined forces with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to sponsor a virtual patient education day and webcast on infection control for patients with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease in which the body produces an abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and often leads to life-threatening lung infections. This approach represents a new and perhaps groundbreaking way to reach patients at particular risk for infection, using the web to not only inform and educate them, but also to keep them from spreading germs to each other (as they might during traditional patient education sessions). “Over the past several years, we have learned a great deal about how to prevent people with CF from getting infections and how to reduce possible spread between patients," says Lisa Saiman, M.D., MPH, professor of clinical pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and one of the hosts of the webcast. "By using the technological advances of the web, we are able to bring our expertise and knowledge to our patients, therefore reducing their health risks while keeping them informed at the same time.” To access an archived copy of the webcast, visit http://www.cff.org/news/index.cfm?ID=492

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CF, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, ID, Lisa Saiman