Introduction to Clinical Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases as a specialty suffers from many unique challenges stemming from lower salaries compared to other medical specialties and difficulty keeping the younger demographic within the field. With emerging infections, new diagnostic and research tools, and changing migration patterns, these problems are amplified; infectious disease specialists are in higher demand than ever with fewer and fewer specialists available to support patients and colleagues outside of the field. To meet these increasing challenges, it is vital for the workforce of the future to have the best training possible. This book aims to provide this support.

As trainees, all physicians face clinical infectious disease scenarios on a daily basis. They receive basic training in common infections, giving them the tools needed for initial diagnostic studies and empiric treatment. This approach, however, still leaves them struggling with nuances of treating common infections, infections that masquerade as other diseases, rare infection, advanced diagnostics, complicating medical conditions, and a wide range of medical complexities. Important clinical microbiology details and host susceptibility risks will be highlighted when discussing uncommon infections.

Each chapter begins by defining a distinct clinical infectious disease problem and the most common cause(s). The next section of each chapter identifies the key questions to consider, including other possible pathogens, medical history, alternate microbiologic diagnoses, instances of unexpected result. This book is the only academic text designed specifically to meet this challenge by targeting learners at all levels. To do this, the text incorporate 30-40 common clinical infectious disease scenarios in both adult and pediatric hosts. It includes easy-to-access "tips and tricks" for when to look further or consider possibilities that are unusual that is useful for someone who is new to the information or has limited experience within infectious diseases. The text heavily features teaching and learning tools, including call out boxes that prioritizes infectious etiologies, host risk factors, important microbiologic clues, and important clinical history clues. The text also includes review questions and quiz-like challenges to reinforce the concepts.