The medical specialty of infectious diseases offers diagnostic tests, consultation and tailored treatment to patients with the following broad categories of infection:

• Bacterial and fungal infections: clinical microbiologists diagnose bacterial infections by growing bacteria from samples taken from the body, to type and subtype them and also to discover if they are resistant to any of the commonly used antibiotics. Fungi can also be cultured and typed (this is known as mycology culture and diagnostics). Diagnostic tests available include those that reveal a chlamydia infection (one of the most common asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections), tuberculosis (TB) or the presence of an infection caused by meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Clostridium difficile (C. diff).
• Viral infections: diagnostic testing is available for hepatitis A, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV, herpes simplex virus (HSV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and other viral pathogens. Ongoing outpatient care for different forms of viral hepatitis is available, including treatment with the latest generation of anti-viral drugs.
• Infections caused by parasites: we can test for malaria, trichomoniasis, toxoplasmosis, Giardia lamblia infection and Cryptosporidium infection (both major causes of traveller’s diarrhoea), worm infestation and other common and rare parasitic diseases.