Caring for Babies and Children With Recurrent, Chronic or Serious Infections

Patients with unusual and/or severe infections and problems with immunization practices and antibiotic resistance are handled by University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital subspecialists:

Pediatric Infectious Disease Referral Clinic

Most of our referrals from pediatricians are seen at this clinic on an outpatient basis. Your child may be referred here to help explain a fever of an unknown origin, diagnose an unusual or chronic infection, or answer a question involving your child’s vaccination history. Our division sees emergency cases immediately.

Specialized Multidisciplinary Clinic Treats Children and Adolescents with Long COVID

Some children and teens who get infected with COVID-19 develop fatigue, headaches, abdominal pain, anxiety and other problems that persist for weeks or months: a cascade of symptoms that doctors call long COVID or post-COVID syndrome. Although rates of long COVID in kids are currently believed to be lower than that of adults, experts still estimate that half a million American children and teens are affected.

In response to the growing number of long COVID cases in children and teens, doctors from the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease and the UH Connor Whole Health integrative medicine team have developed a multidisciplinary clinic to manage these patients. Clinics are held every Friday in the Jeanette and Frank Zagara Clinic on UH Rainbow’s University Circle main campus.

Clinic doctors typically spend more than an hour in the initial clinic visit with patients due to the complexity of Long COVID. Individualized treatment plans target specific symptoms using strategies known to be successful in other health conditions, such as those used to manage chronic fatigue syndrome.

The first recommendation is always a whole food, low-sugar diet in which kids avoid added sugars and processed foods, as this measure has proved to be highly effective in speeding recovery from long COVID. Clinic doctors also employ pacing, an energy management strategy used in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. This strategy involves resting before the onset of fatigue while building stamina over time. Other areas of long COVID treatment include improving sleep hygiene and addressing anxiety issues, with subspecialists available either at the clinic or by referral.

Child Travelers’ Clinic

Our service is one of the first in the U.S. to care for the special needs of children traveling overseas. When your child travels abroad, you want to be sure that his developing immune system is prepared to handle the unusual germs he may come across. At UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, we understand that your child's pre-travel needs are much different from your own. Two to four weeks prior to travel, our medical team will make sure that your child’s vaccinations are up to date with regard to her destination, and that she receives the right medications to prevent travel diseases such as malaria. We'll also give your family destination-specific advice on common diseases, as well as tips on safe eating and drinking habits. After your child has returned home, we can evaluate and treat him for post-travel concerns as needed.

AIDS Services

UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital provides excellent care for children affected by HIV and AIDS through our Children’s Special Immunology Unit. Our compassionate pediatric specialists will screen and evaluate your child for a suspected or documented HIV infection. We also treat HIV-infected mothers, so that you and your child can both build relationships with the same team of caring medical professionals. Once a diagnosis is made, we offer comprehensive counseling services and several treatment options to help your family cope with this difficult disease.

Epidemiology

The Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease focuses on investigative research to help preventing outbreaks of childhood infectious diseases, injuries and other health-related events.