Lung Infection—A Public Health Priority

merging lung infections capture the world's imagination because of the potential for pandemics. Recent examples include avian infl uenza and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). However, even in the absence of new pathogens or pandemics, lung infections have tremendous impact. Lung infections cause more disease than better-recognized threats to the public's health such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria. This persistent and pervasive burden of lung infections receives proportionately little attention from the biomedical and public health communities.