Department of
Infectious Diseases
TATA MEDICAL CENTER
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Patient Care
- Adult Immunisation
- Clinical Research/ Audit
- Antimicrobial stewardship
- Hospital Infection Control
- Staff health (specially Infection related)
Department of Infectious Diseases
India continues to hold top spot in many Infectious diseases (I.D) prevalence like TB. Moreover, increasing antimicrobial resistance is making infections difficult to manage. Individuals are living longer with access to health care, technological innovation, advanced surgical techniques, and ever-improving cancer care. These advances bring along with them the risk of infections. Chemotherapeutic agents, stem cell transplants, organ transplants save lives, but also increase chances of infections in these patients. To prevent, contain and effectively treat infectious diseases and to train the next generation of ID specialists, it is vital to have a Department of infectious Diseases in every good institute.
Infectious Diseases services at the Tata Medical Center started functioning) in April 2015 under the auspices of Prof.(Dr) Bibhuti Saha (Dean of School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata. Prof. Saha has, since then, been the visiting consultant. Recently, since August last year, the hospital formally started its Infectious Diseases department with joining of Dr. Soumyadip Chatterji as a consultant. Very few centers of India currently have such a department with a trained consultant. Dr. Chatterji, a postgraduate in Tropical Medicine and a DM in infectious Diseases (from A.I.I.M.S, Delhi) was previously attached to this hospital as a fellow.
The consultants provide their inputs for both in-patients and out-patients referred to them. Infectious Diseases OPD service is currently available from Monday to Friday between 2 and 4pm. It also runs adult immunisation clinic for our registered cancer patients and their relatives (as applicable) from Monday to Friday between 2 and 4pm. Prof. Bibhuti Saha is available in the hospital once a month. The department is involved in providing inputs for cases of complex diagnostic dilemma. The department, when called for, helps in treatment of cancer patients with acute infection related complications and sepsis. It also helps in management of cancer patients with chronic infections like TB, HIV, Hepatitis B, etc. The consultants have keen interest in infections that mimic cancer and lead to cancer. The department is also very active in providing adult immunization advice to our patients. The department is involved in staff health services (specially infection related staff health).
Since Infectious Diseases and Microbiology are complimentary, the department has collaborated with Clinical Microbiology for many activities for better patient care:-
- Both the departments help in optimization of antimicrobial prescriptions of patients.
- Both departments are involved in infection control activities of the hospital.
- Joint ICU rounds for optimization of care of critically Ill patients with infections
The department has been providing care to cancer patients with CoViD. Around 300 CoViD patients with cancer have been admitted and treated so far. The admitted CoViD patients are also followed up in the I.D OPD. Tata Medical Center is also actively involved in CoViD vaccination drive and Infectious Diseases department is leading this effort with help of the hospital administration and the government.
The infant department has already started a few audits and the consultants have bent for clinical research. The department also has plans of gradual expansion of its services and of starting academic training programs. The department gladly welcomes observers from India and abroad. The department and its consultants are well connected to the national and international bodies and authorities of Infectious Diseases and they try to implement the latest advances into their clinical practice.
