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Research & Innovation
It starts with a Q:
For the latest cutting-edge research, innovative collaborations and remarkable discoveries in child health, read stories from across all our areas of study in Q: Advances and Answers in Pediatric Health.
Infectious Diseases
Infectious Diseases
Kids aren’t just mini adults. In fact, they’re incredibly different. That’s why they need incredibly different care.
What is an infectious disease?
Infectious diseases can range from common illnesses such as the cold, to serious illnesses such as meningitis or AIDS. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an infectious disease is caused by one or more of the following:
- Viruses
- Bacteria
- Parasites
- Fungi
What causes infectious diseases?
Depending on the disease-causing organism, an infection can spread in some or all of the following ways:
- Airborne transmission: transmission of an infection through inhaling airborne droplets of the disease, which may exist in the air as a result of a cough or sneeze from an infected person
- Blood-borne transmission: transmission of an infection through contact with infected blood, such as when sharing hypodermic needles
- Direct skin contact: transmission of an infection through contact with the skin of an infected person
- Insect-borne transmission: transmission of an infection through insects such as mosquitoes that draw blood from an infected person and then bite a healthy person
- Food-borne transmission: transmission of an infection through consuming contaminated food
- Water-borne transmission: transmission of an infection through contact with contaminated water
- Sexual transmission: transmission of an infection through sexual contact, including intercourse
What you need to know about COVID-19
From mental health resources to the latest on the COVID vaccines, we've compiled information families need to help kids through the pandemic.
How do doctors at Children's Hospital Colorado make a diagnosis?
Our infectious disease specialists work closely with referring doctors to diagnose and treat conditions.
Typically patients are referred by their primary care doctors or pediatricians. To help diagnose your child's symptoms, our specialists may need to conduct routine tests, such as blood samples.
How do antibiotics work against infections?
Antibiotics can be used to treat bacterial infections. It is important that antibiotics are taken properly and for the duration of the prescription. Antibiotics are ineffective in treating virus-related illnesses.
Overuse or misuse of antibiotics can lead to drug-resistant bacteria.
Why choose Children's Colorado to treat your child's infectious disease?
At Children's Colorado, we employ the latest techniques that improve healthcare inside the hospital and in pediatric practices in the Rocky Mountain region. We have developed specialized programs to decrease the spread of infections.
Our faculty has training and expertise in pediatrics, epidemiology, clinical trials, molecular biology, biostatistics and behavioral sciences. Our experts study the causes and prevention of childhood diseases in hopes of improving therapies and increasing cure rates, as well as minimizing negative, late effects of treatments. They are taking the lead nationally in facilitating many studies on childhood diseases.
The pediatric Infectious Disease experts at Children's Colorado are an integral part of treating many conditions we see in various departments across the hospital. Our experts study the causes and prevention of childhood diseases in hopes of improving therapies and increasing cure rates, as well as minimizing negative, late effects of treatments.
Children's Colorado has many publications, all developed with the intention of spreading the word from our pediatric specialists, patients and supporters.
Bug Watch is a passive surveillance system provided as a service to the medical community by Children's Colorado's Epidemiology Department and Microbiology/Virology Laboratory. It displays the number of selected microorganisms detected by our laboratory in hospitalized and outpatient children throughout Children's Colorado system during the indicated weeks.
Keeping Kids Healthy and Immunized
- The State of Health of Colorado Children
This report highlights how effective vaccines are in Colorado and demonstrates the need to better educate parents about vaccine misinformation. - Germ Proof Your Kids: The Complete Guide to Protecting (without Overprotecting) Your Kids
Children's Colorado's Dr. Harley Rotbart, vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics, authored a book about keeping kids healthy.
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Get to know our pediatric experts.
Suchitra Rao, MD
Infectious Disease - Pediatric, Pediatrics
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Andrew Haynes, MD
Infectious Disease - Pediatric, Pediatrics
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Amber Bunch, LPC
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