Infectious Diseases
Infectious Disease Care at NCH
Infectious diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide — a fact underscored by the recent global COVID-19 pandemic. At NCH, our board-certified infectious disease physicians are trained and equipped to diagnose and treat all types and causes of infectious diseases, with expertise that evolves with the latest global data and medical advances.
Why Choose Our Physicians
Our infectious disease specialists:
- Are qualified experts in diagnosing and treating a wide range of infectious diseases.
- Stay up to date through ongoing education, medical journals, symposiums, and CDC/WHO updates.
- Have in-depth knowledge of the latest antibiotics and treatment protocols.
Understanding Infectious Diseases
Here are some key facts:
- Germs are tiny living things found everywhere; in the air, soil, water, plants, food and just about every other surface including your body.
- Infection can come by touching, eating, or breathing something containing a germ. Germs are also spread through animal bites, kissing and sexual contact.
- Your immune system works very hard to protect the body against a multitude of infectious agents. However, germs are constantly changing and mutating. These mutated germs then try to breach your immune systems.
Infusion Center
The Infectious Diseases office also has an on-site Infusion Center. The Infusion Center can infuse/inject many medications including antibiotic and biological medications. Some of the infusions can be as short as a few minutes to a few hours. There is always one or more Infectious Diseases doctor on-site and always several specially trained Infusion RN’s to watch over the patients.
Comprehensive Wound Care
Our physicians and clinical staff are trained to care for many types of wounds and Wound Care.
The doctors will evaluate and manage your wound care, working closely with your Surgeon or Podiatrist in determining the best care and treatments for wound cause and locations. Our Infectious Disease Specialists stay current on dressings and grafts using minimally invasive treatments and conservative management.
Tropical and Travel Medicine
For world travelers our physicians are constantly getting alerts and memos about different countries. They know if there are unrests which can restrict travel to different areas and are alerted if a disease breaks out in diverse countries and locations. They know when medications are required to get travelers across different borders.
Patients and travelers can contact the office for a travel appointment.
What to Expect
Once you have made the decision to travel and the reservations made with your travel agent, you will be given an itinerary.
If your journey will take you outside of the United States, you may be required to receive immunizations to protect you from infectious diseases common in the areas that you plan to visit, especially if your plans take you to developing countries. Timing is very important as some medications need to be given in multiples over a period of time and others may require that they are given a certain time period before travel in order to provide the protection needed.
From the travel itinerary our staff will print a detailed report which gives the traveler information about some of the following:
- Health concerns in the area
- Yellow Fever summary
- Other immunization recommendations
- Travel advisory
- General information
- Travel tips
- Consular information
- Insect precautions
Following Strict Safety Guidelines
We are able to check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO). Information such as a possible epidemic or pandemic alert or unrest in the destination area will be discussed with the traveler.
In order to make the most of your traveling experience, you want to do the proper planning prior to your trip. Seeing our NCH physician group travel doctors will help make your experience much safer so that you can fully enjoy your time visiting other areas of the world.
