Integrating infectious diseases into life course epidemiology

The term “life course epidemiology” was coined over two decades ago, proposing a framework to investigate the effect of long-term biological, behavioral, and psychosocial processes that link adult health across generations to exposures acting during gestation, childhood, adolescence, and earlier adult life [1, 2]. It is a powerful approach and the recent literature has emphasized the relevance of life course epidemiology in reproductive health [3], women and child health [4], noncommunicable diseases [5], and public health policy prevention strategies [6]. One notable gap in the life course literature is research on the role of infectious diseases—a topic that has often been overlooked, as its importance was highlighted by Hall et al. in 2002 [7]. This commentary advocates for including exposure to infectious diseases in life course epidemiology