I only buy old cheese because it is more intense. It is rather hard to perform the "affinage" of the cheese without a controlled environment (Roquefort is "affiné" in natural caves in which you have several exits that you can open or close depending on the temperature and hygrometry of the caves, that's part of the AOP).

I never got sick eating cheese, but that's actually possible Salmonella, Listeria, E.Coli, Tick-borne encephalitis virus (and you could die from it, in rare occasions).