Infectious Diseases History

 In addition to system-specific symptoms, make sure to ask about:

  • Fever: pattern, rigors, teeth chattering, drenching/night sweats.
  • Lymphadenopathy
  • Weight loss: seen in chronic infections like TB and HIV.

Exposures, MEATZ and STD:

  • Un(der)cooked MEATZ and other foods, including unwashed salad, unpasteurized milk.
  • Medical: recent hospitalization or surgery, recent antibiotics, previous transfusions, immunosuppression.
  • Employment: healthcare worker, sewage treatment, farmer, sex work.
  • Associates: any infectious contacts at home or work?
  • Tattoos or Trauma: breaks in the skin for pathogen entry.
  • Zoonoses: pets, birds, farm contact, insect or animal bites.
  • Sex: number of partners and their gender in the past 6 months, partners' STIs, condom use, have they paid or been paid for sex, anal/oral/vaginal, past history of STIs and antibiotics used to treat them.
  • Travel: where (rural/urban, any stopovers), when, activities, insects, fresh-water swimming, tattoos, medical treatment.
  • Drugs: mainly IV, but also snorting.

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