Clinical Infections

Clinical Infections Clinic

Protecting Patients, Protecting the Community

Our specialists are working to cure patients and stop the spread of infectious diseases

The Clinical Infections Clinic of HKSH plays a vital role as infectious diseases can spread rapidly and have significant impacts on public health.

Established in September 2020, our Clinical Infections Clinic provides specialised diagnostic evaluations and tailored treatment plans for patients with various acute or chronic infectious diseases. By effectively managing and treating these conditions, we are helping to prevent outbreaks and protect the community.

Our Clinic also educates patients about infection prevention and promotes practices that reduce the risk of transmission. Through our efforts, we aim to improve patient outcomes, enhance quality of life and contribute to the overall health and safety of the population.

The Clinic is led by a team of experienced medical microbiologists and infectious disease specialists, who offer quality and comprehensive care to patients with infectious diseases. It also plays a critical role in providing holistic infectious disease prevention and control for clients with special needs and risk factors.

Services

Infectious diseases are disorders caused by micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. However, not all micro-organisms are pathogenic (i.e. cause a disease; some can actually be beneficial). In many cases, patients develop signs and symptoms of infection only when their immune defence mechanism has been interrupted or when highly virulent micro-organisms are encountered.

Some pathogenic micro-organisms can spread directly or indirectly from one person to another, such as community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA). Others are zoonotic, which refers to a special group of infections acquired from animal exposure, while vector-borne diseases refer to those transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and fleas.

Our major services include the following:

Comprehensive assessment of various acute infectious diseases such as fever in returned travellers and fevers of unknown origin
Evaluation and medical treatment of chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and other atypical mycobacterium infection, chronic viral hepatitis, implant-related infection and HIV infection
Recurrent infection such as recurrent urinary tract infection, pneumonia
Infectious disease prevention such as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and malarial prophylaxis
Sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhoea, syphilis and other urethritis
Travel health consultation service
Vaccination advice such as RSV, pneumococcal, herpes zoster

Diagnosis

A detailed history to clarify the chronology of exposure and clinical manifestation followed by a physical examination is important for diagnosing an infectious disease. To identify the causative micro-organisms, our clinicians will conduct blood tests and, if required, specialised tests of other body fluids, such as urine, sputum or stool. Specialised testing includes culture, antigen detection, antibody detection, microscopy and molecular test such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next generation sequencing.

Treatment

The treatment of infectious diseases will be individualised, depending on the patient’s clinical condition and diagnostic results. Our doctors 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 or osteomyelitis. According to the type of infection, treatment might also include preventing recurrence by avoiding exposure to pathogens, modifying risk factors and, sometimes, developing a long-term suppressive treatment plan.