Unpredictable, ever-changing & with potentially far-reaching effects on the fates of nations, infectious diseases are compelling actors in the drama of human history, note scientists from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The authors look back to the 1799 death, likely from bacterial epiglottitis, of President George Washington & note that "no alive then could have imagined the astonishing breakthroughs that lay ahead.
" Among these was the idea that identifiable microbes lead to specific illnesses, an insight that opened the way to more correct diagnoses, a host of antibacterial & antiviral drugs as well as a gizmo - vaccination - to prevent plenty of infections altogether. Combined, these interventions have saved hundreds of millions of lives & diminished the burden of human suffering, the authors note.
Laudable successes - such as the elimination of smallpox - are, however, balanced against the inevitable emergence of newer pathogens, such as HIV, that can sweep the globe & devastate societies, observe the authors. This tug-of-war between constantly evolving microbes & the human ingenuity necessary to address newly emerging illnesses makes for the perpetual challenge of infectious diseases. Efforts to address this challenge, they write, "are driven by the necessity of expecting the unexpected & being prepared to reply when the unexpected occurs."
