Dr. Martin Raff
Infectious Disease
louisville, KY
58 years experience male
Locations
Office
About
Bio
Retired from the University of Louisville School of Medicine where I began a Division of Infectious Diseases in 1971, but continue to teach on a voluntary basis. Gave up clinical consultative practice on January 11, 2011 and spend time with family and hobbies, including oil painting, stamp collecting and travel.
SpecialtiesDoctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Infectious Disease
Doctor Q&A
11K Answers
13K Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Depends: Degrees of recovery will vary with the virus causing the cold, your age and immune status, the amount of energy you are expending in work and play act... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
No direct symptoms: Atherosclerosis cannot be detected by direct symptoms. Narrowing of arteries diminishes blood supply and oxygen reaching tissues and this creates sym... Read More
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5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years agoMerged
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Actually less: Tb has diminished according to cdc. You can find the numbers on their web site.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Maybe: But there are also non-infective causes. Suggest you see your family doctor.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Ask your ENT: There are a variety of hearing aids available with insertion into the ear canal with minimal visibility.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Get checked: If lymph nodes are enlarged for no apparent reason, and remain that way for any significant duration of time, are hard to the touch, are quite tender,... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Fever going up: One of the factors in producing an increase in body temperature is muscular activity. A long distance runner will generate very high body temperature... Read More
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5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Maybe: The term refers to inflammation of the urethra, which is the tube which runs from the bladder and carries urine out. This can be due to stds, but the... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
See an ENT: If you feel there has been a change in your hearing you should be examined and have an audiogram performed by one of our knowledgeable ENT doctors.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Several possibility: Among other conditions is endometriosis, malpositioning of the uterus, etc. Strongly suggest you contact your gynecologist and provide this history a... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Not likely: Canker sores are a not uncommon occurrence. The cause is not understood and there is no definitive treatment although some people will try to shorten... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
May be infected: Maternal HIV can infect the fetus, but these days there is prophylactic therapy available to minimize the risk.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Highly variable: Might look like infectious mononucleosis, acute flu-like syndrome, encephalitis, or a wide variety of other presentations. My advice would be that if... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Reinfection: There are numerous strains of dengue virus and reinfections occur with regularity. Second or more infections with this virus can be increasingly seve... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Fever and rash: This is the topic of a lengthy lecture for my medical students. The basic answer is yes. The rash may well be part of the infection producing the fe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Not likely: It can occur if there is abrasion to the skin of the penis, but more commonly, men have the skin colonized without symptoms, and then are capable of r... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Not yet approved: Some feel that viagra (sildenafil) has some effect in women. Before this, however, would be examined by a gynecologist, and if nothing physically wro... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Watch: Sounds like a mild viral illness, but without examining her impossible to know. How old is your daughter? Does she go to school or day-care? With w... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Yes: There are a wide variety of conditions which can result in enlargement of the spleen.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Anything possible: But not likely. Sometimes strep can be present in your throat without producing disease, but if your neck swelling is due to infection, something els... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Possible: The rash usually starts on the trunk and spreads to head (face and scalp). It begins with crops of red bumps which rapidly become little fluid-filled... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Yes: Hpv is transmitted by direct contact and anilingus will transmit this both the mouth and the perianal tissues if one or the other is a carrier.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Possibly: Depends upon the cause of myocarditis and the severity of disease.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Five minutes: Or less. This is a rapid office test which is easily done, but although specific when positive, has a high rate of false-negative results.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 20-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Possibly: Blister-like lesions in your throat may be herpes, but more likely to be due to coxsackie virus infection causing a condition known as herpangina. He... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
What have u thought: Gargling with saline solution, using over-the-counter medication to alleviate the tenderness, antiinflammatories like tylenol, (acetaminophen) and oth... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Bad condition: This rare illness produces the abrupt onset of high fever, cough, stridor, sputum which has gross pus in it, sometimes bloody sputum. This is a true ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 23-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Hepatitis A: This seldom needs any form of treatment and is mild and self-limiting. Rarely produces very severe infection, recovery without permanent damages is t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
STD: Mycoplasma genitalium apparently causes about 20% of cases of non-gonococcal urethritis. Another 30% are caused by chlamydia species. These cases ar... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Diverticulitis: Most people develop colon diverticuli (outpouchings of the wall of the bowel) as they age. When these become inflamed it is called diverticulitis and... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
A bad disease: Hiv infection is quite manageable in most individuals today due to combinations of antiretroviral medicines which help to control the disease. Some o... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Do not know: Without knowing whether it produced neurologic changes, whether it was unilateral or bilateral, whether other intracranial sinuses were also involved,... Read More
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6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 28-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Complicated: Clostridium difficile is a bacteria which produces toxins which can damage the wall of the bowel and create diarrhea. It has been most commonly assoc... Read More
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6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
May not: Many, if not most, children who recover from bacterial meningitis may not have any long-lasting problems. Sometimes it may affect hearing, produce ot... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Yes: This should be treatable, but recurrences or reinfection is not unlikely.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Viral: Sounds like a viral upper respiratory infection (cold). There are many different causes but one of the most common is called the rhinovirus.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Only if immune: This will only happen if you have previously been immunized and have antibodies to the virus.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Common: Usually cellulitis is due predominantly to strep, but staph may also be involved. Mrsa is more prone to produce "boils" and can be persistent and rec... Read More
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5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Possibly: Generally the salmonella remains resident in the gallbladder and reaches the gut through the biliary tree. If your stools remain positive for the org... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Possibly: If your last tetanus booster was more than 5 years ago, it is not a bad idea. If it was more than 10 years ago - definitely. Keep up your immunity.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Depends: If it is just fever and the baby is otherwise acting normally, without cough, fussiness, pulling at ear, not eating, crying uncontrollably or other sy... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Acyclovir: Or valacyclovir. This antiviral compound can be effective in reducing the duration of acute herpetic outbreaks and in limiting the frequency of recur... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Depends: If you do not have predisposing factors such as being diabetic, on antibiotics, on steroids, or other, this may suggest immune deficiency. Thrush is ... Read More
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5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Hard to tell: Without an examination and full and detailed history it is impossible to diagnose you. If this persists past several days or new symptoms develop you... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
What is flu?: Impossible to tell what your diarrhea is due to, but it may well be viral. It is doubtful that it is due to the influenza virus without other symptom... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Not likley: Anything is possible, but third person transfer of an organism like chlamydia orally (or only labially) makes it very improbable that this type of tra... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Depends: Much depends on the reason for intubation. If done to maintain airway during surgery the rate is almost zero. If done because of an underlying illne... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Anything above 104: When temperatures rise to those levels they will produce significant discomfort, and are approaching near 105, above which the potential for seizures ... Read More
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5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
No: Unless being breast fed by an hiv+ mother or sexually abused a newborn baby is unlikely to acquire HIV from casual contact with an hiv+ person. This ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 65-year-old male asked:
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
No: Methotrexate will not generally affect the immune system to the extent that you would be unable to respond to vaccinations. Recommend you go ahead.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
TestimonialsRecommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
59
Recommendations
10K
Thank you notes
Dr. James Lin
May 11, 2014
I like & admire Dr. Raff's stock of passion & compassion, wealth of specialty knowledge, and keen instinct to conjecture useful solutions beyond available facts... So, I recommend her to anyone needin...Read More
Nov 1, 2013
Dr. Raff provides a tremendous service to patients with his expertise and caring manner. He is certainly my go-to source when I need expert opinion, and I've learned a great deal from reading his answ...Read More
Jul 19, 2014
Excellent well thought out answers. An excellent resource for patients and an asset to healthtap. Anybody who takes their personal time, to answer patient questions and does so without anything in ret...Read More
HealthTap member
This was very helpful. Thanks! COMMENT: The findings are non-specific. Fragments of bone and marrow are seen in both specimens. There is also a large detached fragment of squamous epithelium present i...Read More
HealthTap member
Thank you Dr. Raff. I have had the MMR. My endodontist has agreed to take a look. Nystatin did work before for similar tongue syndrome that cropped up when abscess originally appeared 6 months ago, th...Read More
HealthTap member
I have been waiting to see him. He saw me in the hospital and asked me some questions, now I just need to get in to see him. The surgeon went over the sterilization records for the equipment, but see...Read More
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine, TX
Graduated 1965MD
Residency
The New York Hospital CUMC
Awards
Not enough
Top Doctor, First Place, Kentucky - Winter
2013
Most Influential, First Place, Kentucky - Winter
2013
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