A Multidimensional Approach to Infectious Diseases

Abstract

During the devastating plague of Athens in the 5th century BC, the historian Thucydides noted that survivors of the epidemic could freely care for the sick without any risk of repeated infection. It was not until over two millennia later that Pasteur’s seminal work brought about the widespread acceptance of germ theory, which demonstrated that microorganisms could cause and spread illness. This new paradigm of disease revolutionized the fields of medicine and public health, ultimately enabling our contemporary understanding of infection, immunity and epidemiology. The field of infectious diseases has evidently wielded a powerful influence on medical investigation throughout human history. With Volume III, Issue II of The Journal of Global Health, we aim to reexamine this critical subject within the context of the modern era.