CSCI/RCPSC Henry Friesen lecture: controlling infectious diseases through vaccination

Infectious diseases continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in both animals and humans. Indeed, every year infectious diseases cost the global economy billions of dollars in losses and are responsible for approximately one-third of all human deaths. These deaths occur from routine infections, hospital acquired infections (approximately 100,000 deaths occur annually in North America due to hospital-acquired infections), occasional pandemics or regional outbreaks. The most recent regional outbreak is Ebola in West Africa. This infection has caused significant challenges for the regional health care community and has had a global impact. The challenge in the control of infectious diseases is not only due to routine infections but also to the continued emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases. These new threats occur on a regular basis with approximately thirty new emerging or re-emerging diseases recorded in the last thirty years. The majority of these emerging diseases are zoonotic (over 70%) causing even greater challenges to their control in humans and animals.