TY - JOUR
T1 - The foundations of aetiology
T2 - a common language for infection science
AU - Inglis, Timothy J.J.
PY - 2023/3/1
Y1 - 2023/3/1
N2 - With the adoption of infection science as an umbrella term for the disciplines that inform our ideas of infection, there is a need for a common language that links infection's constituent parts. This paper develops a conceptual framework for infection science from the major themes used to understand causal relationships in infectious diseases. The paper proposes using the four main themes from the Principia Aetiologica to classify infection knowledge into four corresponding domains: Clinical microbiology, Public health microbiology, Mechanisms of microbial disease and Antimicrobial countermeasures. This epistemology of infection gives form and process to a revised infection ontology and an infectious disease heuristic. Application of the proposed epistemology has immediate practical implications for organization of journal content, promotion of inter-disciplinary collaboration, identification of emerging priority themes, and integration of cross-disciplinary areas such as One Health topics and antimicrobial resistance. Starting with these foundations, we can build a coherent narrative around the idea of infection that shapes the practice of infection science.
AB - With the adoption of infection science as an umbrella term for the disciplines that inform our ideas of infection, there is a need for a common language that links infection's constituent parts. This paper develops a conceptual framework for infection science from the major themes used to understand causal relationships in infectious diseases. The paper proposes using the four main themes from the Principia Aetiologica to classify infection knowledge into four corresponding domains: Clinical microbiology, Public health microbiology, Mechanisms of microbial disease and Antimicrobial countermeasures. This epistemology of infection gives form and process to a revised infection ontology and an infectious disease heuristic. Application of the proposed epistemology has immediate practical implications for organization of journal content, promotion of inter-disciplinary collaboration, identification of emerging priority themes, and integration of cross-disciplinary areas such as One Health topics and antimicrobial resistance. Starting with these foundations, we can build a coherent narrative around the idea of infection that shapes the practice of infection science.
KW - antimicrobial agents
KW - antimicrobial resistance
KW - clinical microbiology
KW - infection science
KW - microbial forensics
KW - molecular epidemiology
KW - one health
KW - ontology of infection
KW - pathogenesis
KW - pathophysiology
KW - public health microbiology
KW - root cause analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150311715&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1099/jmm.0.001637
DO - 10.1099/jmm.0.001637
M3 - Article
C2 - 36917495
AN - SCOPUS:85150311715
SN - 0022-2615
VL - 72
JO - Journal of Medical Microbiology
JF - Journal of Medical Microbiology
IS - 3
M1 - 001637
ER -