Why are some people more prone to infection?

An expert has answers for you about why some people are more susceptible to infections.

Heidi Zapata, assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Yale School of Medicine, is fascinated by microbes—bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites too small to be seen with the naked eye.

“That’s what led me to infectious diseases,” she says.

Zapata’s interest grew when she found that, among her patients, the same microbe could produce mild disease in one person and an overwhelming sepsis in another.

“I truly want to understand the individual immune response,” she says. “Why are some people completely asymptomatic while others die from the same infection?”

Zapata’s research focuses on understanding how aging, HIV infection, and comorbid conditions affect the innate immune response in humans. Currently, she is investigating how the adipose tissue immune microenvironment contributes to the body’s overall immune response.

Here, Zapata explains the factors that influence a person’s immune response, ways to increase our immunity, and her hopes for tailored medicine:

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