Offer

At the University Hospital Basel, the infectiology consultation service is called in for ten percent of hospitalized patients. This mainly concerns elderly patients, patients following accidents or operations and patients with a severely weakened immune system, such as transplanted patients with an acquired immune deficiency who have contracted serious infections.

Examples of serious infections are

• Severe pneumonia
• Infections that are usually spread throughout the body via the blood
• Abscesses of the internal organs
• Specific fungal and viral infections
• Chronic osteomyelitis
• Infections in immunocompromised patients, especially stem cell transplant patients

The Infectious Diseases & Hospital Hygiene Clinic's consultation service is available 365 days a year. However, we appreciate it if registrations are made as early as possible in the day. Urgent consultations must also be registered by telephone to be on the safe side.

The telephone consultation service of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases & Hospital Hygiene is also available. In order to organize such requests efficiently in terms of content and time, we ask you to have anamnestic, clinical and other examinations ready; in particular, previous infectiological-diagnostic clarifications (e.g. resistance determinations) are helpful.

• Infectiology consultation service in all clinics of the University Hospital Basel
• Telephone infectiology consultation service for hospitals in the Canton of Basel-Stadt and hospitals in other cantons
• Telephone infectiology consultation service for private medical practices

Protecting patients, their relatives and employees from hospital-acquired transmissions and infections

In close cooperation with all clinics and departments of the University Hospital, we work every day to prevent the transmission and spread of multi-resistant or epidemiologically relevant pathogens and to break transmission chains. In outbreak situations, we implement measures for adequate outbreak management.

Collaborative and future-oriented

Our most important goal is to prevent hospital-acquired infections. This depends on each and every one of us! Supporting and correcting each other and pointing out opportunities for improvement. For the constant observation and monitoring (surveillance) of the most important hospital-associated infections, we will make even greater use of automated or semi-automated "analysis tools" in future.

Building up and sharing knowledge

Training and further education for staff as well as information and advice for patients and their relatives are also essential in the context of infection prevention and control. This is supported in the outpatient area by the hospital hygiene consultation hours. Another central foundation of our work is the hygiene guidelines, which we update regularly and always bring up to date with the latest scientific study data.

Creating evidence, incorporating evidence

True to the motto "Create evidence, incorporate evidence", we want to implement new technologies and findings from science and technology in everyday hospital life and make a contribution to gaining knowledge ourselves through applied research topics and studies relevant to hospital hygiene.

Strengthening cooperation through exchange

Our expertise benefits not only everyone involved at the University Hospital Basel, but also other networked hospitals and medical facilities throughout the region. And since pathogens do not stop at cantonal or national borders, it is just as important to keep an eye on global events: to observe epidemiologically important pathogens worldwide and to react directly to them by adapting guidelines and procedures for infection prevention and control.

Our topics:

Hepatitis C (HCV) therapies have changed fundamentally in recent years with the availability of several new HCV drugs that target different sites in the replication cycle of the hepatitis C virus. While drug interactions in bitherapies with ribavirin and pegylated interferon are of rather low relevance, such interactions have become an important evaluation factor prior to the start of modern HCV therapy with the new direct-acting agents (DAA). Several of the new DAAs have relevant interactions with other drugs, which can lead to reduced efficacy or increased toxicity of the DAA or co-medications.

We offer a drug interaction consultation service for hepatologists and infectious disease specialists regarding HCV therapeutics. Inquiries can be made in writing by e-mail to catia.marzolini@usb.ch. The requests will be answered within 1-2 working days by Prof. Catia Marzolini.

This service is made possible by an Unrestricted Educational Grant from AbbVie, Gilead and BMS.

Please note:
Answers to inquiries are based exclusively on known or suspected drug interactions and are based on relevant, publicly available data. The questioner is responsible for the completeness of the co-medications provided. The answers are not clinical recommendations and do not imply such. Clinicians must ultimately make their own risk/benefit assessment regarding a particular combination of medications.

The HIV Clinic of the Clinic for Infectiology & Hospital Hygiene is a center dedicated to the long-term care of HIV-infected persons.

Our care team has specialized in this field for many years, i.e. since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the mid-1980s, and is therefore able to align the consultation hours with the latest experience, achievements and also the latest findings. Long-term care is at the forefront of medical and nursing care. In particular, we address the question of whether and when highly active antiretroviral therapy is necessary.

The monitoring of antiretroviral therapy with regard to effects and side effects as well as care in the context of possible consequences of HIV disease and support in taking medication or dealing with special problems are very important to us.

Medical services
As part of the medical assessment, we examine how advanced the HIV disease is, whether there are already consequences of the HIV disease and whether these need to be treated. Even before treatment, we can check whether the virus is sensitive to medication (resistance). An additional offer is that new, promising drugs are tested at our center.

The latest therapies in phase III and IV trials are also carried out as part of the HIV consultation so that new findings can be introduced into the clinic as quickly as possible.

Nursing services
As part of the nursing consultations, we offer support in coping with everyday life with regard to HIV disease.

The anonymous HIV test allows you to be tested for HIV infection without giving your personal details. You will be informed of the test result in person within 30 minutes. However, if you would like a written confirmation, please bring your ID with you. The cost of the anonymous test is CHF 60.00 in cash.

As the HIV test can only reliably rule out an HIV infection 6 weeks after a risk situation, a second HIV test may be necessary after this time.

A positive reaction to the rapid HIV test does not prove an HIV infection and must be confirmed with a second test. We would discuss the further procedure regarding the confirmation test with you.

Important: The anonymous test center is not the right place to go in an acute risk situation. In the event of a possible risk of transmission, contact your family doctor immediately in an emergency, i.e. if possible within 24 hours or as soon as possible.

• your family doctor or general practitioner,
• at the medical outpatient clinic (tel. +41 61 265 50 05)
• or at the emergency ward of the University Hospital Basel.

Registration
Registration required by telephone on +41 61 265 50 05

Location: Medical Polyclinic, Clinic 2, Petersgraben 4, CH-4031 Basel

In the infectiology consultation, we offer outpatient investigations and treatment for infectiology issues (e.g. bone infections, tick-borne infections, sexually transmitted infections).

We offer consultation hours in the following languages:
German, French, English, Russian, Spanish, Italian.
If necessary, a translation service is available.