Infectious disease care at The Christ Hospital Health Network

An infectious illness doesn’t always go away with time, rest, and minimal treatment, and it’s natural to feel frightened when you’re diagnosed with a potentially serious infection. But you can take comfort knowing The Infectious Disease specialists at The Christ Hospital Health Network are among the most experience in Cincinnati. We manage severe illnesses caused by harmful bacteria, fungi, parasites, or viruses. If you are suffering a severe, complicated, or rare infectious disease, whether acute or chronic, you can count on our team for complete care and support.

Our infectious disease physicians are specialty-trained and board-certified in infectious disease medicine. We work closely with your doctor to provide timely and comprehensive care and the integrated Christ Hospital Health Network gives you easy access to multidisciplinary care from other specialists to manage complications if needed.

Our specialists take a compassionate approach to providing comprehensive care and infection prevention treatments to every patient without judgement. We are an LGBTQ+ friendly practice and we treat every patient with the same high level of respect and compassion.

Infectious Diseases we treat

Physicians at The Christ Hospital Health Network have experience diagnosing and treating most infectious diseases, including those that are rare or newly identified. Their areas of expertise include:

• HIV infection (to include HIV post-exposure management)*

• Acute and chronic viral hepatitis to include hepatitis A, B or C

• Tuberculosis

• Fevers of unknown origin (a fever that will ​not go away or recurs)

• Histoplasmosis and other fungal infections
  

• Clostridioides difficile colitis and other gastrointestinal illnesses to include Giardia, Listeria and Salmonella species (infections of the intestines from the environment, food or water)

• Endocarditis (infection of the heart and heart valves)

• Bloodstream and catheter / port infections

• Meningitis and encephalitis (infections of the brain and spinal cord)

• Syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections

• Tick- or mosquito-borne infections (infections transmitted via ticks and mosquitoes such as malaria, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or Lyme disease)

• Pneumonia

• Skin and soft tissue infections to include MRSA (infections of the skin or muscles)

• Osteomyelitis and vertebral discitis (infections involving bone or the spine)

• Postoperative infections (infections complicating or resulting from surgery)

• Infections of prosthetic devices and implants (infections of joint replacements, pacemakers or other devices)

• Zoonotic infections (infections from animals)

• Travel medicine (managing infections resulting from travel)

Infectious Diseases prevention

At The Christ Hospital Health Network, we offer education and preventive services to patients who want to lower their risk of getting an infectious disease. These include people who:

• Are planning to travel to a foreign country.

• Desire HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PreP)**

• Suffer recurrent infection

• Suffer an immune deficiency

• Engage in high-risk activities such as sharing needles or having unprotected sex

**No referral is required for HIV PreP, however we do ask for two office visit notes and the last two sets of lab results.

Infectious Diseases treatment

Because infectious disease symptoms vary widely and range from mild to severe, our doctors care for patients on an outpatient basis and in ​the hospital.

Your treatment plan will depend on several factors, including the type of germ that made you sick, what symptoms you have and whether your infection is curable or chronic. We offer the full range of medical and surgical therapies for infectious diseases, including:

• Antibiotic medicines to treat bacteria

• Antiviral drugs to treat viruses from multiplying and reduce the length or severity of your illness

• Antifungal and antiparasitic medicines to treat fungi or parasites

• Surgery to remove an infected medical device, artificial joint, tissue or organ