Clinical Activities | Teaching and Training | Research | Useful links

Staff

The Paediatric Infectious Diseases Unit (PIDU) at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) comprises a team that includes paediatric ID specialists, ID senior registratrs/clinical fellows, a nursing sister, a lay counsellor and a clerk.

Paediatrc Infectious Diseases Subspecialists

Associate Professor James Nuttall
Head, PIDU
James.Nuttall@uct.ac.za

A/Prof J Nuttal
Professor Brian Eley
brian.eley@uct.ac.za
Professor Brian Eley

TO CONSULT WITH THE DUTY SENIOR REGISTRAR / CLINICAL FELLOW / CONSULTANT
PLEASE CONTACT THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE:  +27-21-658-5111


Clinical Activities

The PIDU is responsible for the management of HIV infection, complicated drug-susceptible (DS) TB, drug-resistant (DR) TB, complicated or atypical infections particularly in immunosuppressed children, vaccine adverse events, the diagnosis and treatment of inborn errors of immunity, and antimicrobial stewardship including advice on the treatment of multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections. The PIDU plays a role in hospital antimicrobial and infection control policy and practice, and the production of standardised treatment guidelines for paediatric infectious diseases.

  1. Inpatient consultation / telephonic consultation: A senior registrar-consultant team is available for ad hoc consultation throughout the working week. Please direct consultation requests to the duty senior registrar. A monthly roster is available at the telephone exchange.
  2. Antibiotic stewardship ward round: Consultant-led ward rounds are conducted every Wednesday at 12h15 in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (C1). The antimicrobial stewardship team includes a microbiologist, pharmacist, and ID sub-specialists and senior registrars/clinical fellows.
  3. ID ward round: Hospital-wide consultant-led ward rounds are conducted every Thursday at 09h00 starting in Ward B1.
  4. Outpatient clinics are conducted in A11 on Monday morning (general ID, complicated / DR-TB and immunology), Tuesday morning (HIV infection), and Friday morning (HIV infection). During HIV clinics, individual counselling is conducted by the clinic lay counsellor or social worker. Outside clinic hours, a nursing sister or ID senior registrar/clinical fellow is available to see patients on an ad hoc basis in A11. Bookings for the Monday clinic may be made through the A11 clerk, Ms Simone Twaku on extension: 5812. Clinic appointments for the HIV clinics may be made through Sister Yonela Nyamza on extension: 5613.
  5. Immunology consultation / investigation: The duty senior registrar/clinical fellow and A/Prof Nuttall (contact through telephone exchange) share clinical responsibilities for immunology.
  6. Monthly intravenous immunoglobulin infusions: Intravenous immunoglobulin infusions are administered in the 'Day Room', Ward E2, usually on Wednesday or Friday mornings. Bookings for IVIG appointments are co-ordinated by Ms Simone Twaku on extension 5812. All children managed through the immunology service should be discussed with a senior registrar/clinical fellow to ensure continuity of care.
  7. After-hours consultation: Most ID problems should be managed by the registrar and consultant on-call for general paediatrics. Specialised problems may benefit from ID consultation. An ID call roster has been incorporated into the monthly roster of the Department of Paediatrics and Child health. The on-call consultant may be contacted through the RCWMCH telephone exchange.
  8. Paediatric outreach: The ID consultant along with a senior registrar / clinical fellow does an ID / antimicrobial stewardship round at New Somerset Hospital (Level 2) and Victoria Hospital (Level 1) on an alternating monthly basis. The PIDU also provides telephonic support to level 1 & 2 institutions in the Western Cape. The duty registrar/clinical fellow may be contacted through the RCWMCH telephone exchange.


Teaching and Training

Undergraduate teaching: 
A/Prof Nuttall conducts regular lectures to 4th and 5th year medical students on ID topics including paediatric HIV and TB infection. 

Postgraduate teaching:
The ID consultants and senior registrars/clinical fellow conduct periodic ID seminars for paediatric registrars and contribute to the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health's Wednesday morning academic programme and Friday afternoon case discussions. ID ward rounds are used to educate senior house officers and paediatric registrars. A/Prof Nuttall support various continuous medical education courses and symposia.

Sub-specialist ID training: 
The paediatric ID unit at RCWMCH is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa as a training unit for paediatric ID subspecialists. Trainees register with the University of Cape Town for this two-year course. Training includes clinical ID, microbiology, virology and immunology. Trainees must complete the exit examination (Cert ID (SA) Paed examination) set by the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, a requirement for registering as an ID subspecialist in South Africa. Prof Eley is the convenor of the training programme at RCWMCH. Refer Appendix A for a comprehensive description.

Certification in Paediatric Infectious Diseases as a subspecialty:
The Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA): Sub-specialty Certificate in Infectious Diseases of the College of Paediatricians of South Africa: Cert ID(SA) Paed

To facilitate research training, an M Phil degree in paediatric ID was created through the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town. In addition to the Cert ID (SA) Paed qualification, ID subspecialist trainees can successfully complete a minor dissertation and obtain the M Phil (Paediatric Infectious Diseases) degree.


Meetings

The African Paediatric Infectious Diseases journal club meets online weekly on a Thursday between 15h00 and 16h15 (except for the last Thursday of each month). Two journal articles are presented at each meeting by ID senior registrars / clinical fellows/ ID consultants according to a roster.

Blood culture meetings are conducted by the Division of Microbiology every Monday at 12h00 at C18, Groote Schuur Hospital. At these meetings, the clinical presentation and antibiotic treatment of children and adults with positive blood culture results are discussed. The senior registrar/clinical fellow attends these meetings whenever possible.

An Immunology clinical meeting is held on an ad hoc basis in the conference room in A11, RCWMCH.


Research

The research activity of the PIDU focuses on HIV infection, tuberculosis and other common childhood infections. Current projects include the effectiveness and outcome of antiretroviral therapy, clinical aspects of bloodstream infection and hospital-associated infection.

Research meetings are conducted on an ad hoc basis between the principal investigator and relevant ID staff members.


Useful links

Clinical guidelines:

HIV

TB

(on Knowledge Hub webpage, click on title to access document)

Other: 

Societies: