Vim & Vigor - Fall 2018 - Community Healthcare - 56

ASK THE EXPERT

Infectious Disease
Specialist Dafer
Al-Haddadin, MD

APPOINTMENTS

Working to Keep
You Healthy
Dr. Dafer Al-Haddadin is a
Community Care Network infectious disease physician affiliated
with St. Catherine Hospital and
St. Mary Medical Center.
Dr. Al-Haddadin sees patients
in Hobart and Portage. Call
219-947-6638 or 219-947-6448.

PREVENTING THE SPREAD
OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES Q
Dafer Al-Haddadin, MD, FACP, discusses infectious disease,
the importance of hand washing and avoiding the overuse
of antibiotics.

Q

56

FAL L 2 0 1 8

Q

Is there a cure for every
infectious disease?
There is almost always a cure.
If we can pinpoint the type of bacteria
causing the infection we can better target the treatment. Certain viral infections, like HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C,
need to be managed on an ongoing basis
much in the same way we would manage a chronic disease such as diabetes.
There are sometimes issues with superbugs that present some challenges in
controlling an infection; however, these
situations are rare.

PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES

What is an infectious
disease specialist?
An infectious disease specialist
is an internal medicine practitioner who
is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Infectious
diseases specialists have extensive
training in the treatment of all types of
infections, including those caused by
viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. A
patient with a difficult or serious infection is usually referred to an infectious
disease specialist by his or her primary
care physician.

What can we do, individually
or as a community, to slow
the spread of disease?
Infection control begins by educating
parents at home and children at school.
The most important practice in infection
control is proper hand washing. When
combined with proper covering of a
cough, we can better control the spread
of most infections, including common
infections like influenza. Influenza and
the similar common cold are viral infections and antibiotics do not work for
them, yet many patients want their physicians to prescribe antibiotics. This is
one area where we have a common misuse of antibiotics. Another common area
where antibiotics are misused is urinary
tract infection. We need to decrease
emergence of resistance by practicing
prevention and using antibiotics when
only necessary. ■



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2018 - Community Healthcare

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