Infection in older adults: underresearched and often undermanaged

Medical science has been remarkably successful over the past two centuries at preventing and curing what were once common infectious diseases in children and young adults in the UK. Vaccination has prevented diseases such as polio, smallpox, tetanus, and diphtheria. Better sewage treatment and clean water have removed cholera and typhoid. Antibiotics have substantially reduced the risks posed by bacterial diseases, and antivirals have reduced the burden of HIV and hepatitis C.In the UK neonatal infections remain a considerable risk, and children and younger adults can still become severely unwell, but the overwhelming majority of deaths from infections and much of the preventable morbidity is in older adults, as laid out in the chief medical officer’s latest annual report.1 In 2023 around