Infectious Disease: Health Care-Associated Infections.

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, with 2 million US patients per year developing HAIs. This results in 90,000 deaths and billions of dollars in preventable expenses annually. Common HAIs include central line-associated bloodstream infection, catheter-related urinary tract infection, surgical site infection, hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), methicillin-resistant (MRSA) infection, infection (CDI), and others.

Infectious Disease: Community Response to Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Emerging infectious diseases are those that are newly discovered, recently have increased in prevalence, or are expected to increase in prevalence in the future. Family physicians play an important role in leading community response to emerging infectious diseases. As with other types of disasters, the general approach to outbreaks has four stages: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

Infectious Disease: Bedbugs, Lice, and Mites.

Bedbugs, mites, and scabies are ectoparasites that commonly affect humans. Bedbugs ( species) were once rare in the United States but are now common. They cause intensely pruritic lesions on areas of exposed skin.

Infectious Disease: Mosquito-Borne Viral Illnesses.

Due to rapid globalization and ease of travel, mosquito-borne viral infections are now a concern for family physicians throughout the United States. Zika virus infection is one such concern. It is spread via mosquito bites or by sexual contact with an infected individual.