Infection and Immunity

Monash Children’s Hospital Department of Infection and Immunity provides expert care and treatment for children with infectious diseases or compromised immune systems.

Our service provides tertiary care for children in southern and eastern Victoria, and support for regional clinicians caring for children.

We also offer the largest neonatal infectious disease service in Australia which helps babies recover from serious infections. This service is run in conjunction with our colleagues in obstetrics and adult infectious diseases to try to reduce the risk of transmission of infection in pregnancy from mother to baby.

Our team treats complex infections, infections in immune compromised children and newborn babies.

Our patients may have acquired an infectious disease in a community setting, in hospital or during transmission from mother to newborn baby.

We provide an inpatient tertiary referral service and outpatient services across all levels of infectious disease and immunology care.

Our team

Infectious Diseases:

• Dr Jeremy Carr (Head of Unit)
• Dr Matthew O’Brien
• Dr Natasha Ching
• Dr Kim Davis

Immunology and Allergy:

• Dr Mark Taranto
• Dr Paxton Loke
• Dr Samar Ojaimi

Infectious Diseases

The service focuses on the long term follow-up of children with complicated infections including HIV and tuberculosis, infectious diseases in immigrant children and acute travel related infections.

Patients are also monitored during the convalescent phase of illness after discharge from the wards.

Children with recurrent or persistent infections can be referred and staff also assess infants at risk of Hepatitis B and C, and HIV.

Staff also provide consultative services to other departments.

Our Paediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic maintains close links with Monash Immunisation, the Refugee Clinic at Dandenong and Monash Health’s Adult Infectious Diseases service, including transitional care for adolescents who will require ongoing care in adulthood.

We run a paediatric HIV service with specialist nurses trained in HIV medicine. We also provide an initial screening service for children suspected of having an immune deficiency.

Antimicrobial Stewardship

Our Antimicrobial Stewardship Program promotes the rational and responsible use of antibiotics for every Monash Children’s Hospital patient requiring antibiotics. The program aims to ensure optimal antibiotic use and minimal risk of antibiotic resistance by encouraging antibiotic use only when needed.

The antimicrobial service is led by paediatrician Dr Deena Parbhoo and paediatric pharmacist Ms Kaman Cheung.

Training

Our paediatric infectious disease training program is accredited for full time specialist training by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. We also share an infectious disease and microbiology training program with Monash Health’s adult infectious diseases. We have an infectious diseases fellow and an infectious diseases resident.

The Monash Children’s Hospital Infection and Immunity team is represented on state, national and international infectious disease and public health bodies.

Research

We have a broad research program covering research in infectious diseases, neonatal infections, immunisations, immunology, public health epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship and cancer related infections, with extensive national and international collaborations.

Secure eReferral by HealthLink is now our preferred method of referral.

Find up-to-date information about how to send a referral to Monash Health Specialist Consulting Clinics on the eReferrals page on our website.

Please refer to: Infection and Immunity. Click here for referral guidelines (PDF).