Department of Pediatrics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2010;659:19-31. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-0981-7_2.
Infectious diseases are an important cause of death among children under the age of 5 (Stein et al., 2004). Most of these deaths are caused by preventable or curable infections. Limited access to medical care, antibiotics, and vaccinations remains a major problem in developing countries. But infectious diseases also continue to be an important public health issue in developed countries. With the help of modern technologies, some infections have been effectively controlled; however, new diseases such as SARS and West Nile virus infections are constantly emerging. In addition, other diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and bacterial pneumonia are increasingly resistant to antimicrobial treatment.
传染病是导致 5 岁以下儿童死亡的一个重要原因（Stein 等人，2004 年）。这些死亡大多是由可预防或可治愈的感染引起的。在发展中国家，获得医疗保健、抗生素和疫苗的机会有限仍然是一个主要问题。但是，传染病在发达国家仍然是一个重要的公共卫生问题。在现代技术的帮助下，一些传染病已经得到了有效控制；然而，非典和西尼罗河病毒感染等新疾病不断出现。此外，疟疾、结核病和细菌性肺炎等其他疾病对抗菌治疗的耐药性也在不断增加。
