Infections in the elderly.

Infections have plagued humans since the beginning of recorded history. Huge segments of the human population were episodically wiped out by epidemic infectious diseases in past centuries. Infection was and is often the final cause of mortality in the debilitated elderly. Substantial ongoing research has been performed to investigate mechanisms, causes, pathogenesis, and therapy for infectious disease. Much of this work has involved the elderly because that group is uniquely predisposed to morbidity and mortality from infection. It is hoped that continued research will result in a decrease in infection morbidity and mortality in elderly.