Clinical Infectiology

Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of the stomach and intestine that causes diarrhoea and vomiting. It is most often caused by an infection with a micro-organism and contaminated by fecal-oral transmission.

Bronchiolitis is a respiratory infection of the small airways caused by a widespread and highly contagious respiratory virus. It mainly affects children under 2 years of age during seasonal epidemics and causes impressive symptoms: coughing, rapid breathing and wheezing.

Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affects the lungs, but sometimes also other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, lymph nodes and bones. It is transmitted from person to person by air, from respiratory forms of the disease.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by toxic substances, or by viruses (most cases). There are five main strains of the hepatitis virus, called types A, B, C, D and E. People with hepatitis A, B or C may experience fever, malaise, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark urine and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes). Sometimes the virus can also cause a chronic infection of the liver, which can later develop into cirrhosis (scarred liver) or liver cancer.

Measles is a highly contagious viral infection characterised by high fever, cough, severe nasopharyngitis and conjunctivitis, and a rash on the skin. It is very easily transmitted by coughing, sneezing and nasal secretions.

Influenza is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus, an enveloped RNA virus of the Orthomyxoviridae family, which mainly affects the upper respiratory tract (nose, throat, bronchi), more rarely the lungs.

The main symptoms of influenza are sudden fever, sore throat, extreme fatigue, muscle aches and headaches.

Lyme disease is an infection transmitted by ticks and caused by the spirochete Borrelia spp. The infection is often symptomless but can in some cases lead to a sometimes disabling disease (lasting joint pain, partial paralysis of the limbs, etc.).

Malaria is a potentially fatal infectious disease caused by several species of parasites belonging to the genus Plasmodium. The disease is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of a mosquito, the female Anopheles, which is infected after biting an infected person.

Common manifestations of malaria include fever and chills, anaemia, jaundice, splenomegaly (abnormal enlargement of the spleen), hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver).

The chikungunya virus is an arbovirus (virus transmitted by arthropods) whose vectors are female mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. The disease may go unnoticed or may manifest itself on average 4 to 7 days after the infecting bite, with the sudden onset of a high fever (above 38.5°C) associated with headaches and severe muscle and joint pain affecting the extremities.

Dengue or "tropical flu" is a disease transmitted by the bite of a mosquito of the genus Aedes. It causes fever and severe arthralgia (joint pain). Other symptoms include myalgia, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. Joint pain is often debilitating and of variable duration.