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The mechanisms of disease production by infectious agents are presently
the focus of an unprecedented flowering of studies. The field has undoubtedly
received impetus from the considerable advances recently made in the
understanding of the structure, biochemistry, and biology of viruses, bacteria,
fungi, and other parasites. Another contributing factor is our improved
knowledge of immune responses and other adaptive or constitutive mechanisms
by which hosts react to infection. Furthermore, recombinant DNA
technology, monoclonal antibodies, and other, newer methodologies have
provided the technical tools for examining questions previously considered
too complex to be successfully tackled. The most important incentive of all
is probably the regenerated idea that infection might be the initiating event
in many clinical entities presently classified as idiopathic or of uncertain
origin.
Infectious pathogenesis research holds great promise. As more information
is uncovered, it is becoming increasingly apparent that our present
knowledge of the pathogenic potential of infectious agents is often limited
to the most noticeable effects, which sometimes represent only the tip of the
iceberg. For example, it is now well appreciated that pathologic processes
caused by infectious agents may emerge clinically after an incubation of
decades and may result from genetic, immunologic, and other indirect
routes more than from the infecting agent in itself. Thus, there is a general
expectation that continued investigation will lead to the isolation of new
agents of infection, the identification of hitherto unsuspected etiologic
correlations, and, eventually, more effective approaches to prevention and
therapy. |