Epidemiological Trends and Risk Factors in Geriatric and Infectious Diseases

A special issue of Diseases (ISSN 2079-9721). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Disease".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 3195

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Health Promotion, Mother Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
2. Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Interests: osteoarthritis; frailty; sarcopenia; osteoporosis; comprehensive geriatric assessment; nutritional issues
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The health of older people is increasingly burdened by infectious diseases, emphasizing the importance of understanding health aspects related to infections in the geriatric population as a current major challenge. This Special Issue aims to describe the epidemiological characteristics and dynamics of infectious diseases among older people, including respiratory viral infections and microbial/zoonotic diseases. Notably, conditions such as COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), influenza (flu), HIV, Zika, MERS, Ebola, pneumonia and tuberculosis (TB) infection can significantly impact the daily lives of older individuals. Additionally, comprehensive geriatric assessment is crucial in addressing these health challenges.

In this Special Issue “Epidemiological Trends and Risk Factors in Geriatric and Infectious Diseases,” we are focusing on the most common infectious diseases seen in older people, covering diagnostic, clinical and therapeutical issues. We are seeking original articles and systematic reviews addressing the global impact of infectious diseases, antimicrobial and antiviral infections, emerging diseases, infection risk factors, social aspects, the economic burden, laboratory identification, clinical trials and community interventions of importance in older people.

Dr. Nicola Veronese
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • infectious diseases
  • microbial diseases
  • zoonotic diseases
  • risk factors
  • healthcare
  • community interventions
  • clinical trials
  • cost-effective analysis
  • epidemiology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

35 pages, 2154 KiB  
Review
A Review on Risk Factors, Traditional Diagnostic Techniques, and Biomarkers for Pneumonia Prognostication and Management in Diabetic Patients
by Shehwaz Anwar, Fahad A. Alhumaydhi, Arshad Husain Rahmani, Vikalp Kumar and Faris Alrumaihi
Diseases 2024, 12(12), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases12120310 - 2 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2495
Abstract
People of all ages can contract pneumonia, and it can cause mild to severe disease and even death. In addition to being a major cause of death for elderly people and those with prior medical conditions such as diabetes, it isthe world’s biggest [...] Read more.
People of all ages can contract pneumonia, and it can cause mild to severe disease and even death. In addition to being a major cause of death for elderly people and those with prior medical conditions such as diabetes, it isthe world’s biggest infectious cause of death for children. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic condition with a high glucose level and is a leading cause of lower limb amputation, heart attacks, strokes, blindness, and renal failure. Hyperglycemia is known to impair neutrophil activity, damage antioxidant status, and weaken the humoral immune system. Therefore, diabetic patients are more susceptible to pneumonia than people without diabetes and linked fatalities. The absence of quick, precise, simple, and affordable ways to identify the etiologic agents of community-acquired pneumonia has made diagnostic studies’ usefulness contentious. Improvements in biological markers and molecular testing techniques have significantly increased the ability to diagnose pneumonia and other related respiratory infections. Identifying the risk factors for developing severe pneumonia and early testing in diabetic patients might lead to a significant decrease in the mortality of diabetic patients with pneumonia. In this regard, various risk factors, traditional testing techniques, and pathomechanisms are discussed in this review. Further, biomarkers and next-generation sequencing are briefly summarized. Finding biomarkers with the ability to distinguish between bacterial and viral pneumonia could be crucial because identifying the precise pathogen would stop the unnecessary use of antibiotics and effectively save the patient’s life. Full article
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