About Your First Visit

We strongly recommend that you consult with your primary physician to ensure that a visit to the Infectious Disease clinic will be beneficial for your child. We perform an initial evaluation on all of our pediatric patients to determine the best approach to care for their concerns. A typical evaluation for a pediatric patient may include:

• A thorough review of the history of the patient's concern, as well a review of his or her past medical and surgical history. A review of any potential infectious exposures is also important. We will ask about any recent travel outside of western Pennsylvania, contact with others who may be ill, and contact with animals and pets.
• We will review the medical records sent by your referring physician. Notes and lab results should be sent from your primary physician’s office to our clinic before the visit so we can provide the best care for your child. Please ensure that these are faxed to us at least 36 hours prior to the visit at 412-692-7016.
• We will review the records from any prior visits to UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
• If you have any personal notes about the problems your child is having it would be useful to bring them to the appointment. The more information we have, the better we can assist you. For example, if your child has been having fevers, a record of the temperatures that you measured at home each day and any associated symptoms would be helpful.
• A physical examination of the patient will be performed.

The physician will then give recommendations. This may include further testing such as obtaining blood work, obtaining cultures, or performing x-rays. These sometimes can be obtained the same day at Children’s Hospital, or arrangements can be made to have these done at another time or place.

A follow-up appointment may be scheduled if needed.

We do not administer vaccines or drain abscesses in our Infectious Disease clinic. Instead:

• Contact your pediatrician’s office or your county’s Health Department for information about getting vaccinations.
• For abscess drainage, please contact your pediatrician’s office or Pediatric General Surgery Clinic at Children’s. Abscess drainage can be performed at an Emergency Department or a Children’s Express Care location.