Infectious Diseases
The Department of Infectious Diseases at Samsung Medical Center seeks to treat and cure patients suffering from infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and tuberculosis. We also aim to foster academic development by doing research and providing education on infectious diseases, and to contribute to domestic and foreign health care by training professionals specializing in infectious diseases.
The field of infectious diseases concerns infections in all parts of the body. Our department is becoming increasingly important as the issue of resistance to various antibiotics emerges, and as the number of immuno-compromised patients increases due to organ transplantations and chemotherapies for cancer. The emergence of new infectious diseases such as AIDS, Ebola virus, MERS, and AI, as well as the re-emergence of diseases that have prevailed in the past, are expanding our roles.
Major areas of treatment / Clinics
Our department treats patients suffering from infections caused by various micro-organisms, patients with fever of unknown origin (FUO), AIDS, and tuberculosis. We diagnose and treat all kinds of infections caused by micro-organisms including respiratory and digestive system infections, urinary tract infections, central nervous system infections, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, and soft tissue infections, as well as sepsis.
We also take care of opportunistic infections in patients who undergo organ transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, immuno-suppressed patients, cancer patients, and combined infections in patients in intensive care, by consultation with other departments and through multi-disciplinary rounds. We provide rapid diagnosis and treatment of fever of unknown origin (FUO), and have introduced up-to-date medication to treat HIV-positive and AIDS patients in Korea.
Strong points
Consultations and collaboration with other departments make up an important part of the Department of Infectious Diseases, and we treat various serious infectious diseases promptly. We support the infection control office in preventing nosocomial infections, co-operate with them in investigating such infections, and make efforts to manage and prevent infections based on these investigations. We also supervise and control the use of antibiotics to an adequate degree, and treat and prevent various contagious diseases within our hospital. We run an adult vaccination clinic for disease prevention and a travel medicine clinic for disease prevention for foreign travelers.