You can’t seem to figure out just how you managed to come down with that infection last month but thank goodness, you are better. Someone you know was really ill in the hospital and you heard it was a “staph” infection and she almost died and you wonder, OMG! Can that happen to me?! You watch the news at night and hear about these outbreaks near and far, and you wonder, where do these germs come from anyway? Well, you are not the only one freaking out about all this and you’ve certainly made it to the right place. This is where I will try to demystify infectious diseases for you.
I am Amina Goodwin Fernandez, an infectious diseases specialist although my patients often do not refer to me as such. It’s funny…they call me the Infectious Doctor (I would hate to think I am spreading infection! Maybe it’s my smile that’s infectiousš), the Infection Control doctor, the Disease Control doctor (it seems CDC comes to mind when people hear infection), and the strangest one, Poison Control doctor (I suppose we may say that germs can poison our bodies).
Titles aside, I get immense pleasure from helping to cure someone of their infection, however the whole process is often very stressful for the patient and their relatives and even for me at times. I often think what if this patient had the knowledge of things to do to prevent the infection in the first place or reduce the severity? Granted, the most diligent, health conscious people will probably still get an infection at some point in their lives, however in general, there is actually quite a bit we can do to reduce our infection risk, if we only know WHAT to do.
So that’s why I have decided to write this blog, to provide what I hope will be useful information about infections in general and to inspire people to (re)claim the power over their own health and wellbeing.