{"id":4043,"date":"2022-05-03T11:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/infectiousdiseases\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T15:42:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T14:42:46","slug":"infectiousdiseases","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/infectiousdiseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Infectious Diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Regional Infectious Diseases Unit (RIDU) offers specialist inpatient and outpatient management of complex infection in adults.&nbsp; This includes management of blood born viruses (HIV, HBV and HCV), non-pulmonary tuberculosis, and review of returning travellers or migrants with ongoing health concerns related to their travel.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on epidemiology, and after exclusion of non-infective causes, RIDU offers investigation of patients with fever of unknown origin or ongoing symptoms suggestive of infection, such as night sweats, weight loss and lymphadenopathy.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RIDU oversees the NHS Lothian Travel Clinics which provide a specialist pre-travel health service. &nbsp;Locations and opening times can be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/travelclinics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NHS Lothian Travel Clinic website<\/a>. &nbsp;Patients can purchase all necessary vaccines and malaria prophylaxis at these clinics as well as receive up-to-date travel advice.&nbsp; Patients can self-refer to this service, but attendance is by appointment only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>C.M &amp; N.B 03-06-25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It is appropriate to refer those with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pyrexia of unknown origin, after consideration of non-infective causes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ongoing symptoms of infection, such as night sweats, weight loss and lymphadenopathy, following exclusion of non-infective causes&nbsp;\u2013 please also see <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/haematology\/nightsweats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RefHelp\u2019s night sweats page<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Active blood-borne viral infection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fever or other infective symptoms following travel<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Suspected or confirmed non-pulmonary tuberculosis (pulmonary TB should be referred to Respiratory Medicine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mycobacterial infection in people living with HIV<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unexplained eosinophilia, where parasitic infection is suspected<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Specific conditions outlined in these pages<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Please note, this list is not exhaustive and the RIDU team is happy to provide advice or review for any person where complex or recurrent infection is suspected.<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who not to refer:<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not refer patients:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Asymptomatic contacts of individuals with active TB infection\/questions regarding TB screening \u2013 <strong><em>these should be referred directly to the TB specialist nurses at <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"mailto:loth.tbservice@nhs.scot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>loth.tbservice@nhs.scot<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>People with ME\/chronic fatigue syndrome \u2013 Infectious Diseases does not offer a service for the diagnosis or management of ME-CFS. Those who meet the diagnostic criteria can be referred directly for <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/rehabilitation\/chronicfatiguesyndromeme\/me-cfs-chronic-fatigue-rehabilitation-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rehabilitation<\/a>. If there are diagnostic uncertainties, please refer to the specialist most aligned to the clinical system involved, and only refer to Infectious Diseases if ongoing symptoms are suggestive of active infection: please see the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/rehabilitation\/chronicfatiguesyndromeme\/me-cfs-chronic-fatigue-rehabilitation-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ME-CFS page<\/a> for further detail.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stable patients requiring intravenous antibiotic therapy for skin and soft tissue infection or multi-drug resistant urinary tract infections should be referred directly to <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/infectiousdiseases\/opat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OPAT<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For patients with recurrent UTIs, not requiring immediate intravenous therapy via OPAT, please consider the advice available on the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/urology\/recurrentutis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Urology Recurrent UTI page<\/a>. This also details the referral route to the Recurrent UTI clinic (Urology) for those with recurrent UTIs despite recommended interventions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Patients should not be referred to request unconventional treatments not currently recommended in the NHS or to discuss the results of unconventional or non-UK accredited tests carried out in the private sector or abroad. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to refer:<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, non-urgent ID advice and outpatient review should be requested via SCI Gateway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Urgent ID advice is available by contacting the on-call Infectious Diseases doctor via WGH switchboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Infectious Diseases email inbox <strong>should generally not<\/strong> be used by primary care to seek advice \u2013 please use SCI Gateway.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antimicrobialcompanion.scot\/nhs-lothian\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NHS Lothian Antimicrobial Companion<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Regional Infectious Diseases Unit (RIDU) offers specialist inpatient and outpatient management of complex infection in adults.&nbsp; This includes management of blood born viruses (HIV, HBV and HCV), non-pulmonary tuberculosis, and review of returning travellers or migrants with ongoing health concerns related to their travel.&nbsp;&nbsp; Depending on epidemiology, and after exclusion of non-infective causes, RIDU<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3664,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[282],"class_list":["post-4043","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-infectiousdiseases"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/infectiousdiseases\/\" rel=\"tag\">Infectious Diseases<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The Regional Infectious Diseases Unit (RIDU) offers specialist inpatient and outpatient management of complex infection in adults.&nbsp; This includes management of blood born viruses (HIV, HBV and HCV), non-pulmonary tuberculosis, and review of returning travellers or migrants with ongoing health concerns related to their travel.&nbsp;&nbsp; Depending on epidemiology, and after exclusion of non-infective causes, RIDU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4043"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24275,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4043\/revisions\/24275"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}