The rise and fall of infectious diseases: Australian perspectives, 1914‐2014

Summary Australia has been fortunate in its experience with infectious diseases over the past century. By the 1960s, many communicable diseases were controlled through a combination of high living standards, progressive adoption of vaccines and antimicrobial treatment. Australian medical scientists have made substantial contributions to the understanding of many historically significant communicable diseases and global initiatives for control. New challenges have emerged as previously unrecognised viral infections have emerged, and microbial resistance to antibiotics has developed in many old pathogens. Ongoing evolutionary forces, both environmental and social, change the balance between humans and microbes. The effects of these forces are most sorely felt in poor countries and communities.