North Shore Physician Group Infectious Disease physicians offer services in Salem and Lynn. They identify and treat infections that arise from exposure to infectious diseases, or that follow organ transplantation and other surgical procedures. In addition, they identify and treat sepsis, travel-associated diseases, endocarditis, blood stream infection, bone and joint infections, as well as HIV and other transmitted diseases.

An Infectious Disease physician begins the process of diagnosis with a regular physical examination of a patient and a review of the patient's medical history. If more detailed identification is required, the physician may culture infectious agents isolated from the patient.

Sometimes a physician is able to make a diagnosis based on the presence of a wart, cutaneous abscess, respiratory infection or diarreahal disease. Other diagnostic procedures include microbiological culture, microscopy, biochemical testing and molecular diagnostics.

Patients can protect themselves from infections in several ways.

• Hand washing is the single most important method of preventing the spread of infection and disease.
• Immunizations prevent the spread of disease among the general population and reduce the number of deaths and disability due to diseases like whooping cough and chickenpox.
• Vaccines benefit both the people who receive them and the vulnerable, unvaccinated people around them, because the infection is no longer able to spread.

Read Infectious Diseases: How to Decrease Your Risk of Getting One.
See more information on Infectious Disease in the Health Library.