Infectious Diseases

Who we are

The PCH Infectious Diseases Department provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services for children and young people who have, or who are at higher risk of, infectious diseases.

Conditions we manage

Our staff are skilled and experienced in caring for children with conditions such as:

• tuberculosis
• human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• complicated or resistant infections
• issues relating to immunisation
• post sepsis follow up
• peri natal exposure to infectious diseases.

Services we provide

• Direct consultations with inpatients and outpatients.
• Collaboration with colleagues in other medical teams who are involved with the patient's care, such General Paediatrics, Paediatric Critical Care, Oncology and Haematology, Immunology and Refugee Health Service.
• A comprehensive Children’s Antimicrobial Management Program (ChAMP) to optimise the treatment of children with diagnosed or suspected infection through guideline development, inpatient review and phone advice.
• Coordinated paediatric tuberculosis program in conjunction with the Anita Clayton Centre.
• Active involvement in the Hospital in the Home (HiTH) home visitation program.
• Extensive consultation services and telephone advice across Western Australia to help doctors who are managing children with infectious diseases.
• Comprehensive immunisation and specialist immunisation services through the Stan Perron Immunisation Centre (SPIC) and Specialist clinics.
• Statewide advice and follow-up for health professionals and families following an adverse event to Immunisation via the WA Vaccine Safety Surveillance (WAVSS) service.
• Follow up and aftercare following Sepsis through our Sepsis Follow up clinics.
• Close links to laboratory-based microbiology services provided by PathWest
• Internationally recognised infection and immunisation research.

Outpatient clinics

The Infectious Diseases department offers outpatient clinics for:

• general infectious diseases
• specialist immunisation
• combined immunodeficiency
• tuberculosis
• sepsis follow up.

Clinics are flexible structured to offer patients and families in person, telehealth or phone appointments, depending on the presenting issue, location and urgency of the concern.

Generally, outpatient referrals will be scheduled within 3-6 months with some referrals booked earlier or later depending on circumstances and clinic availability.

Referrers are encouraged to review the PCH Pre-Referral guidelines for guidance on eligibility and suitability for some types of referrals.

General Infectious Diseases Clinic

This consultant-led clinic, with support from advanced trainees, provides assessment, diagnosis and management for infections that are:

• chronic or recurrent
• acquired perinatally (before or shortly after birth)
• difficult to treat.

Combined Immunodeficiency Clinic

This clinic reviews patients who require input from both infectious diseases physicians and immunologists. This includes young people with HIV infections or exposure, as well as those with specific primary immunodeficiency. Our consultant-led clinic is supported by the clinical nurse specialist and advanced trainees in infectious diseases and immunology.

Tuberculosis Clinic 

Specialist Immunisation

This consultant-led clinic, which is supported by advanced trainees and clinical nurses, provides assessment, diagnosis, management for:

• Children with complex immunisation requirements, such as those whose high-risk medical conditions require individualised immunisation plans.
• Children who have experienced or who are at risk of an adverse event following immunisation.
• Children and adolescents with severe needle phobia or those who are unable to be vaccinated in the community.
• Travel advice and vaccinations for children with medical comorbidities (excluding the BCG vaccine, which is only available at the Anita Clayton Centre). Please note, travel vaccines are available on private prescription.
• Vaccine hesitant families where there is a history of high-risk medical conditions, previous adverse events following immunisation or other contributing factors.

For more information on the Specialist Immunisation Clinic see Stan Perron Immunisation Service.

Stan Perron Immunisation Service

Immunisation is a safe and effective way of providing protection against harmful diseases.

All children and families attending PCH have the opportunity to visit the Stan Perron Immunisation Centre for scheduled routine and overdue vaccinations on the WA Immunisation Schedule.

The service is free of charge, with no appointment or referral required. The Stan Perron Immunisation Centre is a walk-in clinic open to all children.

For more information on the Stan Perron Immunisation Centre, the Specialist Immunisation Clinic and the seasonal influenza immunisation program, see Stan Perron Immunisation Service.

Referrals

All Specialist Rooms, GP’s and WACHS referrers are being advised to direct all non-urgent referrals for PCH outpatient services to the Central Referral Service.  

Referrers are encouraged to review the PCH Pre-Referral guidelines for guidance on eligibility and suitability for some types of referrals.

Online

https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Central-Referral-Service-guide-for-referrers 

• New referrals will be assessed against the eligibility guidelines and prioritised according to medical need.
• Referrals from Nurse Practitioners, other non-medical referrers and private hospitals (including those with a private-public partnership) are to be directed to PCH Referral Office.
• All urgent referrals are to be sent to the PCH Referral Office.
• Urgent referrals must always be discussed with the PCH Consultant / Registrar on call before the referral is sent.
• The referral needs to include the name of the Consultant/ Registrar the referrer spoke to.
• Each referral is to be faxed individually.

PCH switchboard