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Influenza Report 2006.pdf

August 19, 2009 · Filed Under Medical Textbook · Comment  · Tags: , , ,

Taken from Preface: Thirty years ago, infectious diseases were seemingly on the decline.
Tuberculosis was defeated, small pox was about to be eradicated, sexually transmissible diseases could easily be treated, and other scourges of mankind, such as malaria, were expected to disappear one day. Some experts hilariously announced that we would soon be able to close the book of infectious diseases once and for all. Of course, that was before the beginning of the AIDS pandemic in 1981, and before the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, as well as many other viruses capable of causing severe disease in humans.
Human memory is permeable and porous. A quick look at medical history would have sufficed to understand that infectious diseases have accompanied humans ever since they opted for a sedentary lifestyle. While we are today better prepared to prevent and fight off infectious diseases, we are nonetheless condemned to coexist with them. In a world with an increasing potential for the rapid spread of pathogens – overcrowded cities, high mobility – the role of efficient infectious disease task forces can therefore not be overestimated.

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