Infectious: Pathogens and How We Fight Them

The human body is a marvel – but what happens when it comes under attack? A fascinating guide to why we get sick and how we get better.

The human body is a marvel – but what happens when it comes under attack? A fascinating guide to why we get sick and how we get better.

‘Lovely, warm, erudite and, above all, chatty.’ Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra Processed People

Nature wants you dead. Not just you, but your children and everyone you have ever met and everyone they have ever met; in fact, everyone. It wants you to cough and sneeze and poop yourself into an early grave. It wants your blood vessels to burst and pustules to explode all over your body. And – until recently – it was really good at doing this…

The subject of infection and how to fight it grows more urgent every day. How do pathogens cause disease? And what tools can we give our bodies to do battle? Infectious is not only a vital overview of what goes awry in our bodies, but also a hopeful story of ongoing human ingenuity.

Prof. John S. Tregoning is a scientist and researcher whose work focuses on how viruses and bacteria infect the lungs and how our immune system fights them. He is Professor of Vaccine Immunology at Imperial College London, where he runs a research group on infectious diseases. John has published over sixty academic papers and had a regular column in Nature during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has written articles for Times Higher Education and Science, and has been interviewed by outlets including the BBC and Sunday Telegraph. He tweets at @DrTregoning.