How pandemics have changed the world as we know it today?

The worldwide spread of disease is pandemic. There are many examples from history, out of which the most recent pandemic is COVID-19 as announced on March 11^th, 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO) [7].  The outbreak of COVID-19 reported in Wuhan, China, spread rapidly around the globe within a few months becoming a pandemic. Yet epidemics do not turn into pandemics as fast as the current one [8], for instance, the HIV disease was prevalent for years in West Africa before spreading like a pandemic. Today, due to advances in medical medicine, HIV is considered chronic, meaning that the disease incidence in some populations is steady and predictable, according to the American Medical Association [9].

The Spanish flu of 1918 was the most deadly pandemic in history. The virus affected an estimated one's population and was responsible for causing 20 to 50 million deaths — an approximate mortality rate of 1 to 3 percent. The virus did not originate in Spain, but it was the country that first reported on the epidemic, so people started calling it Spanish flu [10].

Laura Spinney, a science writer, and the author address the epidemic of Spanish flu. She suggests that there are lessons to be learned from the pandemic. The 2020 climate is drastically different from 1918, the year that Spanish flu began spreading across the climate. But, as a science writer and journalist Laura Spinney says, many of the public health initiatives have been close to the policies being taken by governments today. Community reunions have been banned. People had been told to isolate themselves and quarantine. That's lasted for months in some cases. It did work. Events didn't go smoothly — distant from it, because some towns suffered considerably shoddier than many others, and the public didn't every time follow what they were told by experts and officials [11]. Studies indicate, however, that social distancing exertions slowed the 1918 flu spread and reduced the death percentage. Currently, the conditions in the world are very different than they were 100 years ago. In 1918, people did not realize that the flu was a virus, nor did they have the resources to create and introduce new vaccines rapidly. But now we know precisely about the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 disease, and now the world is trying to design a vaccine against it [12].

There is a need to take immediate steps and make treatment strategies before the disease is over and we need to do whatever we can in the interim. The lesson here is not to take for granted the social distancing steps. It will be a hard decision to make, and when the coronavirus is completely gone, it will be difficult to predict. And the improvements in public health must be balanced against the stress that social distancing is necessary for families — particularly for those who want to leave there for their exclusive source of earnings — and on the economy as well. Lessons from 1918 flu arise with a major, clear warning: the last century has changed a lot [13]. We have commercial airplanes that are much more available. We have in-house. We have a much stronger healthcare system, too. The planet is now better prepared to cope with any form of illness, by producing vaccines to all kinds of medicines to all types of antibiotics. When the outbreak occurred, the First World War ended and communal health officials obligated little or no formal procedures at the time to deal with disease-causing pandemics that helped in contributing to its massive effect [14].

Research into how the pandemic occurred and whether it might have been avoided in the years to come has contributed to changes in public healthiness and assisted to mitigate the risk of repeated flu-like virus outbreaks later. The outbreak of SARS augmented recognition about averting viral disease transmission, mainly in Hong Kong, where open surfaces have been repeatedly sterilized from that point forward, and face masks have become a conjoint prospect [15].

But Spanish flu shows us how amazing can be the effects of a pandemic, even in countries that have already been active in improving the health of the population. A new pathogen can cause devastating destruction and lead to millions of deaths. That's why the Spanish flu was cited as an alert and a reason to plan well for major pandemic outbreaks that were perceived to be likable by many researchers [11].

Research on emerging infectious diseases

Infectious diseases are a noteworthy pressure on community health and economies in the world's economic stability. We have been amongst the prominent reasons for demise and disability for times and rose rising tests to health protection and humanoid development. The danger of transmissible infections is further compounded by the continuing proliferation of novel, unidentified, and ancient infectious diseases [16]. 

In the previous three and a half decades, a maximum of thirty novel human-affected infectious mediators have appeared, a maximum of them are zoonotic, and their pedigrees have depicted to be strongly associated with socio-economic, political, and environmental influences. While these aspects tend to upsurge, there is concern that infectious disease puts individuals in augmented interaction with the infection that causes pathogens [17].

Developing and abandoned infectious diseases pose a significant danger to community health, and outbreaks of transmissible diseases may have severe political, economic, and social consequences. Ample has been erudite from preceding epidemic incidents, and extensive progress has been completed subsequently the seminal IOM report, which highlighted the critical perception of developing the infectious disease [18].

Government funding is required because pandemic drugs are extremely high- investments; public funding would reduce the risk to pharmaceutical companies and allow them to jump in with both feet. Additionally, governments and other donors will need to finance production facilities — as a global public good — which can produce a supply of vaccines within weeks. These facilities will produce vaccines in normal times for regular immunization programs and quickly be refitted for development during a pandemic. Lastly, governments would need to fund vaccine production and delivery to the communities that need it. Billions of dollars are a lot of money for anti-pandemic activities. But that is the investment size required to solve the problem [19].

Neglected tropical diseases – hanging swords

As COVID-19 is growing globally, leaving uncertainty and confusion behind in its wake, global efforts are underway to find a cure [20]. Yet, many other infectious diseases that kill millions each year lack the same degree of response. These forms of neglected tropical diseases are a large category of transmissible infections that affect over two billion people and cost billions of developed economies  [21].

More than a thousand million people are diagnosed with some or more of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), one-sixth of the world's population, mainly in developing countries. In Nigeria and other western African countries such as Liberia, Benin, Mali, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Lassa fever is an example and endemic. It is reportedly killing about 17.8 percent of those infected in Nigeria. Reported first in 1969, there is still no effective vaccine for preventing it [22].

An acute viral hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola, the infection may last anywhere from two days to twenty-one days and is transmissible to humans through food or household products contact infected with rodent feces or urine or from human to human. It means that successful vaccines will remain a pipe dream and that effective experiments and therapies where they exist would not be made widely available and wiped out these diseases in adequate quantities. Those are the steps to be taken to address those neglected diseases in light of this fact [23].

Emphasis on metagenomics and modeling for viruses’ evolution

Metagenomics (VM) identification and characterization of viruses is a fairly new technique that takes advantage of next-generation sequencing (NGS) sensitivity while being largely unspecific to any particular virus present in a given sample. Virus species (viromes) are structurally and functionally complex and are distinct from ecosystems in hosts and environments [24].

New and better ways of medical responses

A significant challenge in reacting to COVID-19 is the safety of health care personnel and the prevention of nosocomial infections, which have become major problems in China. It will involve a mix of administrative approaches to hospitals, technical monitoring, and special training of medical staff and the usage of personal protective equipment [25].

Since a proportion of patients may have a serious illness and need critical care services, ICUs need extensive planning. This preparation involves evaluation of ICU bed capacity, the potential to increase ICU bed space with alternative care sites such as step-down units and post-anesthesia treatment facilities, mechanical ventilator storage and supply chains, and isolation logistics [26].

Diagnostic testing needs to be expanded

Until recently the CDC carried out all diagnostic testing and was focused on the existence of both travel history to China plus clinical symptoms. The authority was given this week to state and public health laboratories as well as other laboratories to develop and use their diagnostic SARS-CoV-2 tests. This will allow wider testing and results in additional cases being recognized. The CDC and public health laboratories are not equipped to research on the scale required to make the diagnosis in an epidemic for clinics and hospitals. To achieve a high-level test capability, the major clinical testing companies would need to develop and manufacture large-scale test kits [26].

Serological assays are also required particularly for monitoring purposes and to help determine the precise rate of case-fatality. Clinicians and specialists in public health would need to be given specific details about the operational characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing. They need to know these tests 'false-positive, false-negative, and predictive principles to make the best clinical and public health [27].

Anesthesia providers are at an elevated risk of contamination; thus, it is not possible to overemphasize the importance of infection prevention to these providers. Personal protective measures must be taken in caring for patients with confirmed or suspected infections. The goal is to avoid cross-infection in this epidemic and if we do not prove it, we cannot protect our patients  [28].

Rapid development and intervention of vaccine

The COVID-19 vaccines need is worldwide though the requirement is divided differently among communities. For healthcare staff and individuals at the greater threat of severe infection and death, vaccines should possibly be prioritized. Countries with high incomes do not monopolize the COVID-19 vaccines supply globally. But this risk is genuine: wealthy countries negotiated in the period of influenza A / H1N1 pandemic in 2009 [29].

Three imperatives should direct this vaccine effort: speed, global access, and manufacturing and delivery at scale. The Coalition for Advances in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and World Bank, that finances the production of epidemic vaccines, jointly organized an international discussion on these priorities in February 2020 [30]. This consultation led to the creation of a task force for the production of vaccines COVID-19 which is now focusing on how to fund and produce global access vaccines. CEPI reports that the production of up to three vaccines would necessitate an income of a minimum of US$ 2 billion over the next 12–18 months [31].

This prediction comprises phase 1 experimental trials of 8 aspirants for the vaccine, advancement of up to 6 aspirants during phase two and three trials, fulfillment of monitoring and safety criteria for at least 3 vaccines, and enhancement of the universal development aptitude for 3 vaccines. However, this calculation does not contain manufacturing or production costs [32].

Research collaborations across the globe

Notably, associated organizations and nations collaborating in COVID-19 research will inform the effectiveness of global research collaboration, especially in complex public health problems where multiple actors from various institutions and contexts can provide diverse resources and skills to resolve information gaps more effectively than individualistic approaches [33].

The gene sequences of the virus were made available via a public access genetics bank in early January. Laboratories around the world have since been struggling to understand the virus – its signs, similarities with existing coronaviruses, how it spreads, and how quickly. Such front-seat policies have dominated academic institutions in China, the US, Japan, and Europe [34].

To date, six teams have publicly shared their guidelines for molecular research with the WHO. Those include scholars from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Medicine of the Charité Berlin in Germany. For example, one of the first studies for the 2019 coronavirus was produced by the Berlin research team as soon as news of the outbreak emerged due to their experience in SARS-related viruses [35].

To enhance regional and global awareness on chronic and emerging diseases affecting global populations, future efforts are also expected to concentrate on improving research capacity in these contexts. It is also necessary to acknowledge the need for global cooperation since the magnitude of the problem demands a series of large-scale analyzes, exchange of perspectives, information [36].

More specifically, increased research collaborations are likely to promote confidence and cooperation in the global creation of scalable solutions, minimizing costs, and optimizing human benefits across borders.24,25 Learning from research collaboration will foster optimism in addressing current global health inequalities, particularly in developing vaccines and other preventive solutions. Such aspects are important for the overall development of research and practice relevant to COVID-19 as the existing collaborative evidence indicates the fragmented growth of research groups, which could impact the true potential that collaborative efforts can bring in this scenario [37].

Helping people believe in normal life after the end of the pandemic

While the coronavirus pandemic persists, so many people overthink things they never thought about at all. Should you hang out? And if you have another person walking downwind? Even if you're standing at a crosswalk and there's someone around? And if you go for a run and another runner heads for you, and the sidewalk is narrow? Daily worldliness seems to warrant a strategy. Scientists in some fields of genetics, logistics, medical science, economy, and many others will support those people who are straightaway affected by the pandemic by developing diagnostic devices, drugs, and vaccinations; evaluating counter-recession measures; through food and medicine shipping efficiency [38].

The pandemic of Covid-19 carried massive public trials to our streets, homes, towns, nations, and globally. The implications of this public trial will affect humanity as a whole, perhaps quite unequally, as well as in the future. While we write these sentences, physicians and nurses are taking major risks in terms of wellbeing to help our well-being [39].