The new Silk Road

It's a pleasure to welcome you to the Silk Road supplement as the COVID pandemic wreaks havoc across the globe. Asia, the most populous continent, where two-thirds of the population live, houses more patients than anywhere else in the world. World-class researchers can take the opportunity to showcase their work in the Journal of Wound Care. We hope more clinicians will contribute to the journal to increase the visibility of their work and to share their expertise and experience in managing various complex wounds. In this issue, we will look at some interesting papers from burn management, biocellulose with nanosilver, an algorithm to evaluate prophylactic dressing designs, a modified method of tie-over dressing for skin graft, maggot debridement therapy, and the use of resveratrol to address Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which has become a burn wound pathogen of great significance.

Our lives now exist purely online and social media is the nucleus. Wound healing societies have changed their modus operandi in the field of education and training. Conferences are organised as fully online or as hybrid meetings. Webinars are also becoming the new norm in terms of education. Hospitals and health centres have limited the number of attachments or clinical placements due to the pandemic. Standard Operating Procedures apply in all circumstances to prevent the spread of the disease. Wounds Canada was fully virtual as was The European Wound Management Association (EWMA) event, originally planned for London on 18–19 November 2020. This was successfully converted from an actual event to a virtual event. The International Surgical Wound Complication Advisory Panel (ISWCAP) and the 3rd Global Wound Conference 2020, organised by the Malaysian Society of Wound Care Professionals, postponed to 4–6 March 2021 as Malaysia goes through the third wave. Although the vaccine still gives a glimmer of hope, this will take time as the vaccine needs to be produced in bulk and distributed to susceptible individuals first. Therefore, we still have to be vigilant. Keeping abreast with the current practice is vital during the COVID pandemic.