Still puzzling questions in immunology (infection and immunity)

Excerpt

During the last decade, microbial science was one of the hottest topics in scientific research with the number of publications in this field nearly doubling every 5 years. The results of these studies help to bring us the development of hundreds of vaccines and drugs for human and veterinary use. The results of our research not only protect humans they also help to provide stable food supply to our community. Meanwhile, we have been continuously—and we still are—under threat from new emerging infections such as avian influenza, new seasonal flu, SARS and recently the Ebola virus; Dengue virus infection is forecasted to develop worldwide, posing novel threats. In addition, other pathogenic microbes such as HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and antibiotic resistant bacteria that are widespread in parts of our population further threaten our safety. Currently, scientists and clinicians are working closely together to develop new treatments to fight against these infections; however, questions are continuously raised to understand how the immune system that happens to be defeated by a number of dangerous pathogens can be manipulated to combat such infections. …