Francis J Castellino, University of Notre Dame, United States
It is a pleasure to welcome delegates to the 2024 World Conference on Infectious Diseases. We have recently emerged to a large extent from a very costly and deadly viral pandemic, which was brought under some level of control by tireless efforts of a dedicated scientific community. Having personally lived through the pandemics of polio, HIV/AIDS, H3N2 Hong Kong flu, Asian flu, and being historically aware of the cholera pandemic, Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and Justinian plague afflictions, which in total victimized hundreds of millions worldwide, we can be assured that new infectious threats will emerge and old diseases will reemerge and continue to evolve. New treatment modalities are required since these viruses, bacteria, and other virulent microorganisms will mutate and infect more quickly than humans can respond. Only open communication that shares information from many scientific perspectives will minimize the cost of human lives and economic burdens. The WCID is one outlet for such information to be transmitted to the community. I wish all a most productive time at this conference.