Ignoring Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Fatal Error That Could Lead to the Next Pandemic

Authors

  • Karlo Vidovic Discipline of Physiology, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Ireland

Keywords:

Emerging Infectious Diseases, Pandemic Preparedness, Vaccines, Epidemiology

Abstract

  • Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) are a group of novel or re-surging infectious pathogens which primarily originate from animal populations.

  • Many EIDs have a pandemic-causing ability and should be a top priority for governments worldwide.

  • The primary strategies that should be implemented to prevent a pandemic caused by emerging pathogens revolve around preventing the transfer of zoonoses via diligent surveillance methods involving classical tools, data science, and artificial intelligence.

  • The equitable use of mRNA vaccine templates can decrease the spread, morbidity, and mortality of viral and possibly other pathogenic EIDs.

  • Governments must invest in creating stable healthcare systems and well-equipped research facilities to handle the burden of EID outbreaks.

References

The world is not prepared for pandemic flu, says WHO director [Internet] Euronews.com. 2010 [cited 2021 Nov 25]. Available from: https://www. euronews.com/2019/10/10/the-world-is-not-ready-for-pandemic-flu- says-who-director.

COVID-19 map – Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre [Internet]. JHU.edu. [cited 2021 Nov 25]. Available from: https://coronavirus.jhu. edu/map.html.

Head MG, Brown RJ, Newell M-L, Scott JAG, Batechlor J, Atun R. The allocation of US dollar; 105 billion in global funding from G20 countries for infectious disease research between 2000 and 2017: a content analysis of investments. Lancet Glob Health. 2020;8(10):e1295-304. doi: https://doi.org /10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30357-0.

Nelson AM. The cost of disease eradication. Smallpox and bovine tuberculosis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999;894(1):83-91. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb08048.x.

National Institute of Allergy and Infecitous Diseases. NIAID emerging infectious diseases/pathogens [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2021 Nov 27]. Available from: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/emerging-infectious- diseases-pathogens.

Wolfe ND, Dunavan CP, Diamond J. Origins of major human infectious diseases. Nature. 2007;447(7142):279-83. doi:10.1038/nature05775.

Baker, R.E., Mahmud, A.S., Miller, I.F. et al. Infectious disease in an era of global change. Nat Rev Microbiol. 20:193–205 (2022). doi:10.1038/s41579- 021-00639-z

Allen T, Murray KA, Zambrana-Torrelio C, Morse SS, Rondrinini C, Di Marco M, et al. Global hotspots and correlates of emerging zoonotic diseases. Nat Commun. 2017;8(1):1-10. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00923-8.

Kolby J. To prevent the next pandemic, it’s the legal wildlife trade we should worry about [Internet]. National Geographic; 2020 [cited 2020 Nov 29]; Available from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/ article/to-prevent-next-pandemic-focus-on-legal-wildlife-trade

Maxmen A. WHO report into COVID pandemic origins zeroes in on animal markets, labs. Nature. 2021;592(7853):173-4. 10.1038/d41586-021-00865-8.

Shiferaw ML, Doty JB, Maghlakelidze G, Morgan J, Khamaladze E, Parkadze O, et al. Frameworks for preventing, detecting, and controlling zoonotic diseases. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017;23(13):71-76. doi: 10.3201/ eid2313.170601.

Ellwanger JF, Kaminski V de L, Chies JAB. Emerging infectious disease prevention: Where should we invest our resources and efforts? J Infect Public Health. 2019;12(3):313-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2019.03.010.

Quipeng. 2022 Data science approaches to infectious disease surveillance. Phil Tran. R Soc. A.3802021011520210115

Akinyi MY, Kivai S, Mbuthia P, Kiragu D, Wango T, Shikoli C, et al. Surveillance of emerging infectious diseases in wild non-human primates in Kenya: Successes and challenges [Preprint]. Research Square. 2021:1-42. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-923002/v1.

Zeng D, Cao Z, Neill DB. Chapter 22 - Artificial intelligence–enabled public health surveillance—from local detection to global epidemic monitoring and control. Academic Press. 2021:437-453.

Spillover Global. Spillover [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 Nov 27]. Available from: https://spillover.global.

Sandbrink JB, Shattock RJ. RNA vaccines: A suitable platform for tackling emerging pandemics? Front Immunol. 2020;11:608460. doi: 10.3389/ fimmu.2020.608460.

Wang Y, Zhang Z, Luo J. et al. mRNA vaccine: a potential therapeutic strategy. Mol Cancer. 2021;20(1):33 (2021). doi:10.1186/s12943-021- 01311-z

Excler JL, Saville M, Berkley S. et al. Vaccine development for emerging infectious diseases. Nat Med. 2021;27(4): 591–600 (2021). doi:10.1038/ s41591-021-01301-0

Kavanagh MM, Gostin LO, Sunder M. Sharing technology and vaccine doses to address global vaccine inequity and end the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA. 2021;326(3):219-20. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.10823.

United Nations. So much more that we can do to save lives right now. 2021 [cited 2021 Nov 30]; Available from: https://www.un.org/en/awake- at-night/S4-E8-so-much-more-we-can-do-to-save-lives-right-now.

Coccia, M. Pandemic Prevention: Lessons from COVID-19. Encyclopedia. 2021;1:433-444. doi:10.3390/encyclopedia1020036

Downloads

Published

2024-03-14

How to Cite

Vidovic, K. (2024). Ignoring Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Fatal Error That Could Lead to the Next Pandemic. Trinity Student Medical Journal , 22(1), 12–16. Retrieved from https://ojs.tchpc.tcd.ie/index.php/tsmj/article/view/2812

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.