Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Discussion Group

Infectious diseases kill more people worldwide than any other single cause. For most of human history, infection with a bacterium, virus, or parasite—passed from person to person, transmitted by insect or animal bites, or present in contaminated food, water, or the environment—often led to severe illness or death. While sanitation, pasteurization, vaccines, antibiotics, and public health education have helped control infectious disease outbreaks, emerging and re-emerging infections are a significant health threat to the global population.

The complex relationship between host and pathogen

Every year, nearly 4 million people die from the “Big Three”: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Real progress in combating these diseases and other infectious diseases— like Zika, Ebola, dengue, and influenza—can only be made with a deep scientific understanding of pathogen biology, the human immune system, and the complex interplay between them.

Our portfolio of events and publications in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is designed to surface new discoveries and tackle current challenges in biomedical research and public health efforts to understand, treat, control, and prevent over 200 known infectious diseases. Beyond a better understanding of infectious disease etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and care, we also explore broader issues such as the roles that human demographics and behavior, international travel and commerce, technology and industry, economic development, microbial adaptation and change, and the breakdown of public health measures play in the complex coexistence of microbes and man.

Did you know that mosquitos kill more than 1 million people each year through the transmission of malaria alone? Add that to the numbers of people sickened and killed by other mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika, dengue fever, yellow fever, West Nile virus, and chikungunya, and mosquitoes can be considered one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet.