Major services provided by the Clinic include:- Comprehensive assessment of various acute infectious diseases such as fever in returned traveller, and pyrexia of unknown origin
- Evaluation and medical treatment of chronic infectious diseases such as mycobacterium infection, chronic viral hepatitis, implant-related infection and HIV infection
- Infectious disease prevention such as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and malarial prophylaxis
- Travel health consultation service
What is Infectious Disease?
Infectious diseases are disorders caused by micro-organisms, including bacteria, virus, fungi and parasites. Not all micro-organisms are pathogenic; frequently, patients develop signs and symptoms of infection only when their immune defence mechanism is being interrupted or when highly virulent micro-organisms are encountered. Some of these pathogenic micro-organisms can spread directly or indirectly from one person to another, such as community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). Zoonotic diseases refer to a special group of infection that is acquired from animal exposure while vector-borne diseases refer to those transmitted by vectors, which include mosquitoes, ticks and fleas.
Diagnosis
A detailed history to clarify the chronology of exposure and clinical manifestation followed by physical examination is important in making a diagnosis of infectious disease. To identify the causative microorganisms, a combination of blood test and specialised testing on other body fluids, such as urine, sputum or stool is sometimes required. These specialised testing includes culture, antigen detection, antibody detection, microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), etc.
Treatment
The treatment of infectious diseases would be individualised depending on the patient’s clinical condition and diagnostic results. The specialist might prescribe medications such as antibiotics, antivirals or antifungals to eradicate the pathogenic micro-organisms. Prolonged treatment may be necessary for certain chronic infections, such as chronic viral hepatitis, HIV, mycobacterium infection, implanted-related infection, osteomyelitis, etc. Prevention of recurrence by avoidance of exposure to pathogens, modification of risk factors and sometimes, long-term suppressive treatment are necessary, depending on the type of infection. |
