Infection House Call Berlin

The spectrum of acute infections suitable for outpatient care ranges from respiratory tract to ENT, urinary tract and skin. Specifically we treat acute bronchitis, community-acquired pneumonia without shock signs, sinusitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis (including streptococcal A after rapid testing), otitis media and externa, conjunctivitis, skin infections such as erysipelas or wound infections, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections.

For viral respiratory infections – influenza, RSV, SARS-CoV-2, rhinovirus, adenovirus – rapid testing usually clarifies the agent within twenty minutes. This guides therapy as well as recommendations on isolation and length of sick leave.

Importantly, we treat only infections that can be controlled outpatient. With signs of sepsis, meningitis, severe pneumonia with hypoxia or other dangerous courses, we organise hospital admission to suitable Berlin hospitals such as Charité, Vivantes or DRK Westend.

RAB dispatch equips every house-call bag with rapid tests for influenza A/B, RSV, SARS-CoV-2 and group A streptococcus. These antigen-based tests are read within fifteen to twenty minutes and have good sensitivity in symptomatic patients during the early days.

Where bacterial infection is suspected, a CRP rapid test delivers a result in minutes. Values below 20 mg/l often argue against, values above 50 mg/l more often for a bacterial cause – always to be interpreted clinically. Urine dipstick and microscopy support diagnostics of urinary tract infections.

When extended laboratory diagnostics are needed, we collect samples on site and pass them to a Berlin private laboratory such as LADR, Limbach or Synlab. Results are usually available within twelve to twenty-four hours and are sent by email to you and, on request, to your family doctor.

Antibiotics are not antipyretics. They work against bacteria, not viruses. Over eighty percent of acute respiratory infections in Berlin are viral – in that majority an antibiotic is useless and contributes to personal and societal resistance.

Indications for an antibiotic include streptococcal A tonsillitis with positive rapid test, community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, urinary tract infection with fever or flank pain (pyelonephritis), erysipelas and severe otitis or sinusitis in risk patients. Drug selection follows current Berlin resistance data and individual allergies.

Where possible we treat with the narrowest effective spectrum. In viral courses symptomatic treatment remains the gold standard – fluids, analgesia, where useful cough suppressants or mucolytics. This differentiation is core medical skill and not negotiable.

With clinical signs of sepsis – confusion, high respiratory rate, low blood pressure, chills with high pulse, skin mottling – the patient belongs in hospital, not in bed. We organise this via 112 and accompany registration in the emergency department.

Severe pneumonia with oxygen saturation below 92 percent, pulmonary embolism, acute endocarditis, meningitis and other life-threatening infections require inpatient care. Here too medical triage is decisive: better refer early than react too late.

In immunosuppressed patients – chemotherapy, biological therapy, transplantation, HIV with low CD4 counts – we lower the threshold for hospital admission significantly. Even seemingly harmless symptoms can escalate quickly.

After diagnosis and treatment decision you receive a private prescription, redeemable at any Berlin pharmacy. We can arrange messenger delivery from the nearest pharmacy; in Mitte, Charlottenburg and Prenzlauer Berg many pharmacies deliver within sixty minutes.

You receive a written summary of the visit with diagnosis, therapy recommendation and behavioural advice, in German or English on request. This can be forwarded to a family doctor or international insurer.

Follow-up visits are available at the Reiche private practice. Phone follow-up on +49 30 550 77 870 within the first twenty-four hours is free; a repeat house call incurs separate GOÄ billing. We believe in integrated care, not isolated single contacts.