Dear colleagues

The University of Cape Town Department of Paediatrics and Child Health look forward to warmly welcoming you to the 50^th Annual Paediatric Refresher Course from 2-5 February 2027 at the beautiful Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town.

It is a great privilege and pleasure for the paediatric subspecialties of Infectious Diseases (ID) and Neonatology to host this half-century landmark meeting that all of us in the Department and we know many of you, hold in high esteem. As always, it will include updates on key clinical topics from international and local experts, practical case discussions relevant to your practice, ethical challenges, and the opportunity to catch-up with colleagues and interact with our sponsors and supporters.

Two pre-conference workshops on surfactant replacement therapy / neonatal haemodynamic case scenarios and interacting with the microbiology laboratory and antimicrobial stewardship in your practice will be held on Tuesday 2 February followed by the main conference programme from Wednesday 3 – Friday 5 February.

Plenary talks include a debate on respiratory syncytial virus prevention, probiotics in neonatology, new antibiotic strategies in neonatal sepsis, and cytomegalovirus infection diagnosis and management. Session talks include a wide array of ID and neonatology topics including modern hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy management, preventing Group B streptococcal and other neonatal and childhood infections, the role of artificial intelligence in neonatology, vaccinating, feeding and following up the preterm infant, inborn errors of immunity in young infants, and palliative care cases and scenarios.

We invite you to participate in the workshops, presentations and discussions, and enjoy your time amongst colleagues and friends.

Dr James Nuttall
On behalf of the 2027 Paediatric Refresher Course Organising Committe