Dr. Weber - What Do Infectious Disease Specialists Treat
David Robert Weber, MD, is a top infectious disease medicine specialist who lends his skills and expertise to serve patients at UPMC Department of Infectious Disease with practice locations at UPMC Monroeville at Oxford Drive in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and Shadyside Medical Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With... more
An infectious disease specialist is a physician who specializes in infections that can affect the human body. Infectious diseases are disorders caused by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi. Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant germs are difficult and even impossible to defeat. Infectious disease specialists treat antibiotic-resistant infections with medications that target the bacteria causing the infection. Experts may prescribe a combination of medications.
Having a medical evaluation completed before traveling is beneficial for several reasons. An infectious disease specialist will need to know where the patient is traveling to determine which vaccines are necessary. This will determine if the individual is healthy enough for travel. Hepatitis B and C are common blood-borne viral infections that mainly affect the liver. Infectious disease specialists can decide if a hepatitis B patient requires treatment, as some don’t. Hepatitis C is generally treated with a chemotherapy-like injection drug called interferon.
