Pediatric Infectious Disease Care

The Infectious Disease (ID) Program at Children's Hospital Colorado provides a breadth of expertise ranging from laboratory-based research to the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases, including neonatal infections, serious infections in children such as pneumonia, meningitis, bone and joint infections, Kawasaki disease, infections in immunocompromised hosts, and pediatric and adolescent HIV infections. Our Program advocates an emphasis on vaccine-preventable diseases through immunizations.

Why choose Children's Hospital Colorado for infectious disease care?

Many infectious diseases can be treated by pediatricians, but when unique or different symptoms are present, it's important to see a pediatric specialist. At Children's Colorado, our pediatric Infectious Disease team only treats children. We understand that children have special needs.

Our team is leading research and clinical trials in fungal, bacterial and viral pathogenesis, and our doctors have been recognized for medical breakthroughs, including the discovery of toxic shock syndrome (TSS). Infectious Disease team members have received awards and national recognition in the areas of flu, viral infections, immunizations, Kawasaki disease, HIV and infectious disease management protocols.

Infectious Disease services

As a trusted regional and community resource, the Infectious Disease program at Children's Colorado sees approximately 4,000 patients each year. Our outpatient team treats patients with recurrent fevers, unusual infections and individuals who have long term needs, while our inpatient team routinely consults on a serious infectious, such as pneumonia and meningitis.

We offer several clinical programs and specialties:

• Infectious Disease Inpatient Consultation
  Our ID physicians see hospitalized children with serious infections and work with your doctor to diagnose and treat these infections, including pneumonia, meningitis, bone and joint infections, prolonged fevers, Kawasaki Disease and other infections.

• Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic 
  The Outpatient Clinic focuses on diagnosing and treating infections. Our Infectious Disease department provides inpatient consultation for children with unusual or severe infections, as well as assistance with infection control issues and management of infectious diseases.

• CHIP Program 
  The Children's Hospital Immunodeficiency Program (CHIP) is a nationally funded resource for infants, children, adolescents and pregnant women affected by HIV in the Rocky Mountain region. The clinic has a complete staff of doctors, nurses, social workers, and peer counselors. Families are included in the care and management of the children.

Additionally, our Infectious Disease Program oversees epidemiology at Children's Colorado at the community at large. This includes a hospital-wide effort to measure and improve quality of care through:

• Infection control
• Analysis of disease trends
• Clinical epidemiology
• Diagnostic test utilization
• Pharmacoepidemiology
• Microbial epidemiology
• Disease prevention
• Participation with Colorado Department of Health in tracking reportable diseases

Consult information for providers

As experts in the region, the ID consultation team receives approximately 4,000 inquiries each year for referrals, information and consults. Attendings and fellows are on call all day, every day for telephone consultations to physicians in the Rocky Mountain region. The team also supports the microbiology and virology laboratories, four transplant teams and hosts a weekly case management conference.