The Intersection of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases Across the Lifespan: Implications and Applications for Global Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the complex and intertwined relationship between communicable diseases (CDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), shining a light on the importance of the agent-host and environment in relation to disease severity and outcomes. Host factors, including but not limited to diabetes, obesity, tobacco use, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and other considerations like pregnancy status appear to play substantial roles in mediating the severity and outcomes of CDs like COVID-19. Annual CD infections of high burden, such as influenza, are also impacted by similar host factors. This interrelation emphasizes the inseparability of infectious and non-infectious diseases and underscores the strategic importance of embracing a more comprehensive lens in understanding, preventing, and managing diseases. At the same time, progress also continues to be made in the roles that infections may play in the development of chronic diseases, such as cancers.

The goal of this Research Topic is to provide insight into the dynamic interplay between CDs and NCDs across the lifespan, focusing on how these interactions influence disease susceptibility, progression, and outcomes. It aims to examine existing and novel preventive and/or therapeutic management interventions aimed at reducing the burden of both CDs and NCDs across different stages of life. This includes looking at how prevention or management of either a CD or NCD also influences the other while considering factors such as vaccination programs, lifestyle modifications, and public health initiatives.

Topics that may be covered in this Research Topic include, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Examine individual health behaviors and lifestyle choices that impact the development and progression of both communicable (CD) and non-communicable diseases (NCD), or when the impact on a CD or NCD also influences the other.
- Explore innovative approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment that integrate strategies for addressing both CDs and NCDs.
- Investigate how social factors like poverty, education, housing, and access to healthcare influence the prevalence and outcomes of both CDs and NCDs.
- Explore the underlying mechanisms by which aging processes contribute to the development and progression of CDs and NCDs, elucidating the molecular, cellular, and physiologic pathways involved to identify potential targets for intervention.
- Assess the intersection of mental health with both communicable and non-communicable diseases, exploring risk factors, comorbidities, and integrated approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and management.
- Assess the intersection of pregnancy and post-partum complications that may influence the health of the mother, baby or both, for example, pre-term birth risk among women with chorioamnionitis, and the subsequent NCD risk among surviving infants.
- Submissions that look at how new technologies, such as AI, telemedicine, and predictive models, are being used to better understand and manage CD/NCD interplay.
- Provide insights to inform the development of integrated health policies and frameworks that prioritize prevention, early detection, and management of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

This topic focuses not only on maintaining a dialogue between the often-segregated fields of communicable and non-communicable diseases but also on how our understanding of this relationship could transform public health strategy and healthcare practices moving forward.

Dr. Caitlin Crews-Stowe is the owner of an infection prevention consulting LLC that provides expertise to healthcare entities. Dr. Karen K. Lee holds shares in a sporting goods company.