ID Specialists: Solving Mysteries, Tackling New Challenges
ID Specialists: Solving Mysteries, Tackling New Challenges
A relatively small medical discipline merely 30 years ago, infectious diseases (ID) has emerged as one of today's most vital medical specialties. In the early 1980s, there were fewer than 1000 of us, and now there are nearly 7500 board-certified ID specialists and 10,000 members of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), including more than 900 members in training and 1500 international members.
Success stories in the prevention and treatment of ID abound. Diseases that used to have huge morbidity and mortality rates, such as polio, measles, mumps, and rubella, have been significantly curtailed. The only disease that was ever eradicated -- smallpox -- was defeated thanks to traditional ID strategies of surveillance and immunization.
Today, there is a huge and growing need for ID expertise in management of antimicrobial resistance and hepatitis C, outbreak characterization and management, disease prevention, and infection control. Infectious disease is the second leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States, chronic lower respiratory tract disease and influenza/pneumonia are among the top 10 killers, taking nearly 190,000 lives every year.
ID specialists are found at the bedside caring for patients with life-threatening infections; in the laboratory trying to uncover clues that will lead to better drugs and vaccines; in such places as Geneva and Atlanta, spearheading outbreak investigations and pandemic response; and in hospitals and clinics worldwide, overseeing antimicrobial stewardship efforts and infection control practices.
Many young people are attracted to the specialty because of its emphasis on global health and the opportunity it provides to travel and make a profound difference in improving the lives of some of the world's most disadvantaged populations.
In this field, the challenges abound: Antibiotic resistance is on the rise at a time when very few new drugs are being developed to treat the ever-evolving microbes that cause disease. This is a dilemma that affects all of us in the medical profession -- and, in fact, everyone in the world -- and resolving this problem is the bailiwick of the ID specialty. Personally, I find the process of exploration and discovery in ID to be unparalleled in its pace, scope, relevance, and immediacy. What other field of study involves all 3 domains of life (bacteria, archaea, and eukarya) and occupies the news media virtually every day?
The Infectious Diseases Specialty
A relatively small medical discipline merely 30 years ago, infectious diseases (ID) has emerged as one of today's most vital medical specialties. In the early 1980s, there were fewer than 1000 of us, and now there are nearly 7500 board-certified ID specialists and 10,000 members of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), including more than 900 members in training and 1500 international members.
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David A. Relman, MD, President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America |
Success stories in the prevention and treatment of ID abound. Diseases that used to have huge morbidity and mortality rates, such as polio, measles, mumps, and rubella, have been significantly curtailed. The only disease that was ever eradicated -- smallpox -- was defeated thanks to traditional ID strategies of surveillance and immunization.
Today, there is a huge and growing need for ID expertise in management of antimicrobial resistance and hepatitis C, outbreak characterization and management, disease prevention, and infection control. Infectious disease is the second leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States, chronic lower respiratory tract disease and influenza/pneumonia are among the top 10 killers, taking nearly 190,000 lives every year.
ID specialists are found at the bedside caring for patients with life-threatening infections; in the laboratory trying to uncover clues that will lead to better drugs and vaccines; in such places as Geneva and Atlanta, spearheading outbreak investigations and pandemic response; and in hospitals and clinics worldwide, overseeing antimicrobial stewardship efforts and infection control practices.
Many young people are attracted to the specialty because of its emphasis on global health and the opportunity it provides to travel and make a profound difference in improving the lives of some of the world's most disadvantaged populations.
In this field, the challenges abound: Antibiotic resistance is on the rise at a time when very few new drugs are being developed to treat the ever-evolving microbes that cause disease. This is a dilemma that affects all of us in the medical profession -- and, in fact, everyone in the world -- and resolving this problem is the bailiwick of the ID specialty. Personally, I find the process of exploration and discovery in ID to be unparalleled in its pace, scope, relevance, and immediacy. What other field of study involves all 3 domains of life (bacteria, archaea, and eukarya) and occupies the news media virtually every day?
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