The medical center of the Pasteur Institute (MCPI) is the only public health entity in direct contact with the public, through its vaccination center, its consultations and its laboratory. The traditional activities of the MCPI are clinical, in two main domains: (i) infectious diseases and travel medicine, (ii) allergology. The three principal goals of a medical doctor are represented: mainly medical activity, but also more or less clinical research and teaching. Clinical research, mainly as investigator (clinical studies, epidemiology, physiopathology, diagnosis, therapeutics), is directly connected to the medical orientations of the medical center.

Infectious and tropical diseases, travel medicine

The main medical orientation is travel medicine, with (i) vaccination and travel advice prior to departure (adapted to visited regions), particularly for immunocompromized patients (long term follow up of yellow fever vaccination efficacy), and (ii) imported post travel diseases (mainly infectious and tropical), including malaria (20-30 cases/year), other vector borne diseases (rickettsiosis, dengue, chikungunya etc.), infectious diarrheas (due to Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella, Giardia, Entamoeba etc.), other infections of digestive origin (typhoid fever, helminthosis etc.), skin diseases (cutaneous larva migrans, cutaneous leishmaniasis, myasis, photophytodermatosis etc.), etc.

This explains the MCPI’s participation in clinical research within this domain, in collaboration with other entities of the Pasteur Institute (on physiopathology of malaria and amebiasis), the Lille Pasteur Institute (on malaria prophylaxis), and various university hospitals (on malaria follow-up and travel medicine in the HIV infected patients).

Other key orientations include HIV infection, in close collaboration with the Necker university hospital via the Necker Pasteur Infectious Diseases Center, as well as other cosmopolitan infectious diseases (Lyme disease, viral hepatitis etc.) and rabies treatment.

Allergology

The medical emphasis is on general allergology, both diagnostic and therapeutic. Key interests are: (i) atopic dermatitis, (ii) hereditary angioneurotic edema, with the most important cohort in France.