The right care the first time
People turn to Mayo Clinic for help with a wide range of serious and difficult-to-diagnose infectious diseases. Each year Mayo Clinic's infectious diseases specialists diagnose and treat more than 18,000 adults and children from around the world. During the first year of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, the clinic treated more than 5,000 people with the virus and had one of the lowest mortality rates in the United States (about 1% compared with a national average of about 2%).
Our infectious diseases experts help people with bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic infections. That includes bloodstream infections and complex or rare conditions caused by emerging infectious diseases and multidrug-resistant microbes. Successful treatment starts with an accurate diagnosis. Our doctors take the time to get it right.
Leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic
Mayo Clinic demonstrated a strong commitment to its patients, staff and values during the COVID-19 pandemic. The infectious diseases team was critical to the clinic's successful response to this crisis. The clinic rapidly implemented new models of care that used remote monitoring and telehealth visits. Infectious diseases specialists met daily to plan for the best possible treatments. The clinic established sites for testing and providing monoclonal antibody therapy as it became available.
Mayo Clinic was a worldwide leader in using monoclonal antibody therapy. This therapy significantly reduced the hospitalization rate and decreased mortality of people showing symptoms of infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. In addition, the clinic accelerated its remote monitoring capabilities to care for 9,200 COVID-19 patients, allowing people with mild to moderate symptoms to be cared for safely at home and to know when to come to the hospital for care.
Mayo Clinic researchers led the U.S. expanded access program for SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma, a trial that involved 12,000 physicians at 2,600 medical facilities across the U.S. The effort is estimated to have saved more than 40,000 lives in 2020. More than 90% of the people hospitalized for COVID-19 at Mayo Clinic participated in clinical trials. Our research model moved new research findings into the clinical practice quickly and safely.
Infectious diseases doctors and team-based care
Many infectious disease problems are often related to other medical conditions. Our infectious disease specialists work closely with doctors in many specialty areas to make sure you get exactly the care you need. Depending on your situation, your care team may include doctors trained in cardiovascular medicine; critical care; dermatology; thoracic surgery; immunology; rheumatology; ear, nose and throat and head and neck surgery; hematology; oncology; pulmonary medicine; gastroenterology and hepatology; neurology; neurosurgery; transplant; orthopedic surgery; pathology; surgery, or vascular surgery. Your doctors may also work with an infectious disease pharmacist, a nurse, a microbiota transplant coordinator and an advanced practitioner.
Having all this expertise in a single place, focused on you, means that you're not just getting one opinion. Your care is discussed among the team, your test results are available quickly and appointment schedules are coordinated. Highly specialized experts are working together for you. What might take weeks or even months to accomplish elsewhere can typically be done in a matter of days at Mayo Clinic.
Infectious diseases doctors at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Rochester, Minnesota, are part of the Division of Public Health, Infectious Diseases and Occupational Medicine. It’s made up of specialized medical experts committed to using the most effective and advanced approaches to preventing and treating infectious diseases, illnesses and injuries.
Infectious diseases doctors in this division help people with HIV, bone infections, and infections related to complications of cancer, transplant, critical care and many other conditions.
Infectious diseases services are also provided to children at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota. Pediatric infectious diseases specialists of the Mayo Clinic Children's Center work with other pediatric specialists to diagnose and treat children and adolescents.
Mayo Clinic Health System clinics, hospitals and health care facilities serve more than 60 communities in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. These sites provide Mayo Clinic infectious diseases services to their local communities.
Advanced diagnosis and treatment
You may undergo diagnostic procedures so that your doctors can identify exactly what's causing your signs and symptoms. Mayo Clinic's infectious disease specialists work with clinical microbiology specialists who have developed advanced microbiological laboratory methods of detecting infections. They also work with radiologists who use innovative imaging technologies, including 7-Tesla MRI, magnetic resonance elastography and magnetic resonance angiography. Many of these advanced testing and imaging methods are available at only a very few medical centers.
Helping people who are hospitalized. Our infectious disease specialists work in teams to help manage the most complex infections encountered in the hospital setting.
Monitoring people who need transplants. People who plan to undergo a transplant may see an infectious disease specialist for a pre-surgical assessment of infection risk and to discuss prevention strategies. These include prophylaxis, preemptive therapy, surveillance and vaccination. People who receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as a bridge to heart transplant can meet with this team as well to discuss managing infection risk.
Combating infectious diseases with eConsults. Doctors in Mayo Clinic Health System are connecting with colleagues in Rochester, Minnesota, using eConsults to improve care of patients with serious infections and diseases related to bacteria, viruses and parasites.
Focusing on infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship. Our infectious disease doctors are committed to developing strategies to reduce the risk of infection after surgical procedures and in people who are hospitalized. In addition, they are expert in the optimal use of antimicrobials, which reduces the chance of developing drug resistance.
Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialists provide a full range of diagnostic assessments, medical treatments and procedures. Availability of services varies among Mayo Clinic locations. Please confirm when you contact Mayo Clinic.
Mayo Clinic infectious diseases doctors are experts in the treatment of people with a wide range of infectious diseases, including those that are complex or rare. Availability of services varies among Mayo Clinic locations. Please confirm when you contact Mayo Clinic.
Mayo Clinic has one of the largest and most experienced practices in the United States, with campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Staff skilled in dozens of specialties work together to ensure quality care and successful recovery.
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Mayo Clinic has one of the largest and most experienced practices in the United States, with campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Staff skilled in dozens of specialties work together to ensure quality care and successful recovery.
The Mayo Clinic Division of Infectious Diseases is one of the largest and most respected practices in the world for diagnosing and treating people with infectious diseases. It includes more than 50 subspecialized experts committed to helping people overcome serious and complex infections.
Our specialists are known for their expertise in orthopedic infectious diseases, cardiovascular infectious diseases, transplant-associated infections, HIV, travel medicine, fungal infections, C. difficile infections, pediatric infectious diseases, outpatient IV antimicrobial therapy, nontuberculosis mycobacterial infections, infectious diseases in people with cancer and treatment of people in the Intensive Care Unit with infectious diseases.
Mayo Clinic in Minnesota brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts in its Division of Public Health, Infectious Diseases and Occupational Medicine. Infectious diseases specialists work closely with experts in preventive medicine, occupational medicine, transportation medicine, clinical informatics, and hyperbaric and altitude medicine. Their goal is to promote the health and well-being of their communities and people who come to the clinic for care.
Mayo Clinic in Arizona has one of the most experienced infectious diseases teams in the world for treating people with valley fever (coccidioidomycosis) and for therapeutic microbiota transplantation for recurrent C. difficile infection. Mayo Clinic in Florida has one of the most experienced teams in the world for treating people following lung and other solid organ transplantation.
People who turn to the Mayo Clinic infectious diseases team benefit from its relationship to these resources and organizations:
- National recognitions and leadership. Our doctors hold leadership positions in national infectious diseases organizations and professional societies, helping to establish guidelines and advance the field for the benefit of all people. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene lists Mayo Clinic as a provider.
- Transplant Center. Our infectious diseases experts are active in patient care in the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center. The center is the largest integrated transplant provider in the United States. Mayo Clinic surgeons are leaders in simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplants and living-donor kidney transplants.
- Center for Individualized Medicine. Our infectious diseases experts are active in research with the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, which brings genomic discoveries to patient care.
- World Health Organization (WHO). Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, is a WHO-designated Collaborative Center for Tuberculosis. The center works with public health organizations to treat and control tuberculosis.
- Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. Our infectious diseases experts work closely with the internationally renowned Mayo Clinic Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. The lab offers expertise in all areas of conventional and molecular microbiology, performing millions of lab tests each year. And it uses and develops advanced diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. Specialty areas include bacteriology, hepatitis/HIV, infectious disease serology, initial processing/media, mycology/mycobacteriology, parasitology, vector-borne diseases and virology.
Learn more about Mayo Clinic's quality rankings.
Mayo Clinic's clinician-scientists and researchers study the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In response to the pandemic, Mayo Clinic established a research task force to study the origin, causes and transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as well as potential treatments and vaccines. In 2020 this work resulted in 275 active clinical trials on COVID-19 and 737 COVID-19 publications, including in top journals such as The Lancet.
This rapid and effective response to the pandemic is built on the clinic's strong commitment to infectious diseases research. For nearly 70 years our clinician-scientists and researchers have been at the forefront of advances in diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. The clinic initiated its subspecialty training of doctors (the fellowship program) in 1961. Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota each offer fellowship training in infectious diseases. These programs include specialty training on infectious diseases related to transplant, critical care, orthopedics and other surgical infections, cardiovascular medicine, and travel-related and tropical medicine.
Mayo's infectious diseases clinicians collaborate with scientists throughout the world. Among their many collaborators are Arizona State University, the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, the University of Notre Dame, the Belize Ministry of Health, and international colleagues who study the Zika (ZEE'-kuh) virus and other vector-borne diseases.
Areas of particular research interest include:
- The use of convalescent plasma therapy to treat people who are ill with COVID-19
- symptomsCOVID-19Remote monitoring of
- COVID-19 biobank
- SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma trial
- Long-term symptoms of COVID-19
- Prosthetic joint infection
- Vertebral osteomyelitis
- Health care associated infections
- Cytomegalovirus infection
- Vaccine research
- Infection following organ transplantation
- Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis)
- Cardiovascular infections
- Clostridium infections and fecal microbiota transplantation
- HIV and hepatitis
Clinical trials
Mayo Clinic researchers are involved in studies to evaluate potential treatments (clinical trials) for many infectious diseases. You may have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials. Learn more about infectious diseases clinical trials at Mayo Clinic.
At Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota, researchers in the Division of Public Health, Infectious Diseases and Occupational Medicine are committed to ongoing research to improve the health and well-being of people and populations. Talk with your doctor about whether any of the clinic's many clinical trials might be right for you.
Publications
See a list of publications by Mayo Clinic authors on infectious diseases on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.
Laboratories and centers
Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of satisfied Mayo Clinic patients.
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.
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