COVID-19 Likely To Linger On Till 2021?

Easy mode of transmission, nature of the virus, population density, environmental condition, social culture are the major contributors to the rapid spreading of COVID-19 across the globe. But in order to break the chain of transmission, one needs to understand the transmission dynamics of this ongoing pandemic, which is somehow unclear.

- Dr.Manbeena Chawla

Over the previous centuries, global pandemics of infectious diseases, such as smallpox, cholera, and influenza, have periodically threatened the survival of entire global population. By the mid-twentieth century, safe, effective, and affordable vaccines and the increasing availability of antibiotics had reduced the toll of infectious diseases in the high-income countries (HICs). Not until the second half of the twentieth century did large scale efforts begin to better control infectious diseases in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the infectious disease burden was greatest and highly varied.

The decline of the vaccine-preventable diseases has contributed to a recognition of the potential for using vaccines to prevent other infectious diseases, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), tuberculosis (TB), malaria, hepatitis C, and a variety of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). However, emerging pandemic viral infections remain a constant threat.

The most common examples of viral infections include SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (middle east respiratory syndrome), and Ebola and Zika viruses as well as, perennially, influenza, and chikungunya infections. Compared with antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, relatively few antiviral drugs have been developed to treat these emerging viral infections. Therefore, the most important intervention is to break the chain of transmission.

This need has become all the more necessary with the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Easy mode of transmission, nature of the virus, population density, environmental condition, social culture are the major contributors to its rapid spreading across the globe. But in order to break the chain of transmission, one needs to understand the transmission dynamics of this ongoing pandemic.