Sign up

Infectious diseases are still important

Janice Rumbold

Topics Politics

Want unlimited, ad-free access? Become a spiked supporter.

Infectious diseases are still important. As a specialist subject, it was being wound down, but in the last few decades several new infectious diseases have been identified – Lyme disease and Whipple’s disease, for example. And several old diseases have been found to have an infectious cause.

Tuberculosis is on the rise again. Tropical diseases are regularly imported into the UK. The anti-vaccination movement threatens to cause the return of old killers, like whooping cough and diphtheria, which have reappeared in the former Soviet Union. Crohn’s disease may be due to a mycobacterial infection, and cryptogenic cirrhosis may be due to unidentified hepatitides.

Janice Rumbold, UK

Monthly limit reached

You’ve read 3 free articles this month.
Support spiked and get unlimited access.

Support
or
Already a supporter? Log in now:

Support spiked – £1 a month for 3 months

spiked is funded by readers like you. Only 0.1% of regular readers currently support us. If just 1% did, we could grow our team and step up the fight for free speech and democracy.

Become a spiked supporter and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access, bonus content and exclusive events – while helping to keep independent journalism alive.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

Exclusive January offer: join  today for £1 a month for 3 months. Then £5 a month, cancel anytime.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

Monthly support makes the biggest difference. Thank you.

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Only spiked supporters and patrons, who donate regularly to us, can comment on our articles.

Join today