ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses significant disease challenges we face today: antimicrobial resistance and pandemics. Our increasing life expectancy within the last centuries is mainly attributable to our ability to control infectious diseases through better sanitation, vaccination, and antimicrobial treatment. We live in an increasingly populated and well-connected world. The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the threat posed by highly transmissible novel respiratory viruses, which can reach all major cities within days. We are inducing rapid and large-scale changes to the environment in our booming need for food and resources. Misuse of antibiotics has led to selecting antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are now effectively circulating the world, threatening modern medicine as we know it. Infectious diseases affect us all, and there is a need for more awareness and concerted global efforts to address the increasing threat they pose to our health and welfare.
