A respiratory virus conference in Iguazu Falls

One of the perks of being a physician scientist is attending scientific conventions in different parts of the world. For a Filipino scientist, it can't get any farther than South America, specifically the colorful country of Brazil. The 13th International RSV Symposium this year was held in Foz de Iguaçu in the state of Parana. Foz de Iguaçu is home to the eponymous Iguazu Falls, the largest waterfall system in the world.

- DR. EDSEL MAURICE T. SALVANA

The biggest problem with visiting Brazil from the Philippines is getting there. Manila is more than 10,000 miles away, and there are no direct flights. In my case, I flew from Manila to Dubai which is a nine-and-a-half-hour flight, followed by a 15.5-hour flight from Dubai to Sao Paolo, and a relatively short hop of two hours from Sao Paolo to Foz de Iguaçu. With layover time, it is nearly 36 hours each way and a full three days for the entire round trip. The conference itself ran for four days, which means I spent almost as much time traveling compared with the amount of time attending the scientific sessions.

The 13th International RSV Symposium is organized by the International Society for Influenza and Other Respiratory Virus Diseases. These kinds of conferences are state-of-the-art meetings with leading researchers and academics presenting their latest research findings and networking with other scientists to determine the gaps in knowledge and how to address them.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, respiratory viruses have gained a major boost in importance and the medical community is now appreciating the significant impact they have on health, especially in vulnerable populations. The increasing availability of molecular testing such as RT-PCR now allows clinicians to diagnose these diseases definitively and recognize clinical syndromes where there used to be a lot of uncertainty.