ID physicians should learn from foreign colleagues to actively contribute to other clinical practices, such as the diagnosis and treatment of emerging IDs and nosocomial infections, and to participate in infection control, antimicrobial stewardship, primary care networks, care of immunosuppressed patients, and outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy [3,13]. Also, ID departments must strengthen their communication with the government and authorities. Healthcare authorities should reconsider their economic evaluation system and increase the compensation paid to ID practitioners. Finally, infection is a common problem faced by all clinical professionals. ID physicians should actively cooperate with clinical microbiology and infection control colleagues to provide consultations and to conduct research. Only in this way can the relevance and value of ID practice be improved in China [29]. Transparency declaration The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Acknowledgement We would like to thank the members of the First Affiliated Hospital to School of Medicine of Zhejiang University. Funding This work, including the effort of Yonghong Xiao, was funded by the National Basic Research Programme of China (2015CB554201), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81361138021), the opening foundation of the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (2010KF04), and the Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province (2015C03032). Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2017.05.008. References [1] National health and family planning commission of People's republic of China. China health statistics yearbook. 2013. Available at: http://www.nhfpc.gov.cn/ htmlfiles/zwgkzt/ptjnj/year2013/index2013.html. [2] Weng XH. The thinking of the new development period of infectious diseases. J Microbes Infect 2011;6:2e3. [3] Cao B. Professional Competence of infectious diseases doctors. Infect Dis Info 2012;25:46e9. [4] China Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System. China antimicrobial resistance surveillance system report 2015. Licensed Pharmacist in China, 3; 2016. p. 3e8. [5] Petrak RM, Sexton DJ, Butera ML, Tenenbaum MJ, MacGregor MC, Schmidt ME, et al. The value of an infectious diseases specialist. Clin Infect Dis 2003;36: 1013e7. [6] Rodriguez-Bano J, Arrizabalaga J, Berenguer J, Garau J, Gatell JM. The infectious disease specialty in Europe and America. Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin 2008;26(Suppl 15):15e22. [7] Kass EH. History of the specialty of infectious diseases in the United States. Ann Intern Med 1987;106:745e56. [8] Norrby SR. Infectious disease emergencies: role of the infectious disease specialist. Clin Microbiol Infect 2005;11(Suppl 1):9e11. [9] Ceng HH, Jiang RM, Li XW, Li XL. Investigation and analysis of running status of department of infectious diseases in third-level general hospitals in Beijing. Chinese Health Quality Management 2014;06:33e6. [10] Fang PQ, Wei S, Zhang JH, Hu SH. Analysis and evaluation of current status of resident-allocating in third-tier general hospitals. Chin J Hosp Admin 2006;10:709e12. [11] Qiu XR, Diao XY. Survey on infectious diseases outpatient departments of secondary and tertiary general hospitals in Harbin. Chinese J Infect Control 2011;10:70e1. [12] Amin K, Kauffman CA. Fever of unknown origin, a strategic approach to this diagnostic dilemma. Postgrad Med 2003;114:69e75. [13] Fauci AS. Infectious diseases: considerations for the 21st century. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:675e85. [14] Read RC, Cornaglia G, Kahlmeter G, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Professional Affairs Workshop group. Professional challenges and opportunities in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases in Europe. Lancet Infect Dis 2011;11:408e15. [15] Sunenshine RH, Liedtke LA, Jernigan DB, Strausbaugh LJ. Role of infectious diseases consultants in management of antimicrobial use in hospitals. Clin Infect Dis 2004;38:934e8. [16] Lo E, Rezai K, Evans AT, Madariaga MF, Phillips MF, Brobbey WF, et al. Why don't they listen? Adherence to