Infectious disease patients can contract illnesses from the environment, people, animals, ticks, and other insects.
The care an infectious disease physician provides to a patient falls into four key categories:
- Infectious disease care (e.g., bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections)
- Infusion care (e.g., steroids given through IV infusion, hydration therapy, antifungals, immunoglobulins, iron therapy, steroids, and osteoporosis therapy)
- Wound care (e.g., antibiotic treatment, topical agents, antimicrobial dressing, wound closures)
- Travel care (e.g., vaccinations for prevention of diseases like whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, tuberculosis, dengue fever, and malaria)
