Infections in the Elderly - 05/07/13

Doi : 10.1016/j.ccc.2013.03.016

Hans Jürgen Heppner, MD, MHBA ^a,^b,^⁎ , Sieber Cornel, MD ^b, Walger Peter, MD ^c, Bahrmann Philipp, MD ^b,^d, Singler Katrin, MD ^b,^d
^a Department of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinikum Nuremberg, Prof.-E.-Nathan-Str. 1, Nuremberg D-90419, Germany
^b Institute for Biomedicine of Aging, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Heimerichstr. 58, Nuremberg D-90419, Germany
^c Depatment of Intensive Care Medicine, Johanniter Hospital Bonn, Johanniterstr. 3-5, Bonn D-53113, Germany
^d Department of Acute Geriatric Medicine, Klinikum Nuremberg, Prof.-E.-Nathan-Str. 1, Nuremberg D-90419, Germany

^∗Corresponding author. Department of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinikum Nuremberg, Prof.-E.-Nathan-Str. 1, Nuremberg D-90419, Germany.

Résumé

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.

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Keywords : Infections, Elderly, Immune senescence, Geriatric, Sepsis, Pneumonia, Functional decline

Plan

For all authors there is no conflict of interest. H.J. Heppner has received speaker’s fees from Pfizer, MSD, Astellas, and Bayer Health Care and is a research fellow of the “Forschungskolleg Geriatrie,” Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart, Germany.