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COVID-19: Fight for prevention & treatment

Published : Saturday, 21 March, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1027
Md Zillur Rahaman
Md Zillur Rahaman

Md Zillur Rahaman

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic, pointing to the so many serious cases of the coronavirus illness in over 119 countries and territories around the world and the sustained risk of further global spread. The WHO said that this is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector. So, every sector and every individual must be involved in the fights.

Human coronavirus cause infections of the nose, throat and lungs. They are most commonly spread from an infected person through: 1) respiratory droplets generated when our cough or sneeze, 2) close, prolonged personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands, 3) touching something with the virus on it, then touching our mouth, nose or eyes before washing our hands.

In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled. Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals. In the days and weeks ahead, WHO fears to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.
WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and they are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. They have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.

An epidemic refers to an uptick in the spread of a disease within a specific community. By contrast, the WHO defines a pandemic as global spread of a new disease, though the specific threshold for meeting those criteria are fuzzy. The term is most often applied to new influenza strains, and the WHO said it is used when viruses "are able to infect people easily and spread from person to person in an efficient and sustained way" in multiple regions. The declaration refers to the spread of a disease, rather than the severity of the illness it causes.

Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO's assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn't change what WHO is doing, and it doesn't change what countries should do. The WHO have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus.

The single biggest way to prevent the spread of infection is to avoid or limit contact with people who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or any respiratory infection. For myriad reasons, this is far more accessible for wealthy people. Abstaining from public transit is more feasible and already more commonplace for people with high-paying jobs. Working from home is similarly an easier option for the wealthy. The next best thing we can do is practice good hygiene to prevent bacteria and viruses from spreading.

Regularly and thoroughly we should clean our hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash with soap and water. Washing our hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands. It should also be maintained at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between ourselves and anyone who is coughing or sneezing beside us.
Preparing to spend two weeks at home under quarantine is also expensive. It can cost much money to buy enough food to last that long, and plenty of households would struggle to spend that money in one go. A lot of households may have really tight balance and are short on liquidity. Trying to stockpile could add stress to household balances and budgets.

Coronavirus also exacerbates health inequalities that already exist along income levels. Those lower down the social ladder are much more likely to have underlying health conditions and multiple co-morbid conditions, making us more vulnerable to having a serious or fatal case when they are infected. Over the recent decades, many people in developed countries have become forgetful and lost the solidarity created by the shared experience of infectious disease. Universal access to essential health services, environmental protections, equality in education, and equality of opportunity are the most fundamental elements of preparedness.

Historically, disease and destruction have led to greater equality as those who survive are able to demand higher wages. There is no indication of coronavirus leading to social benefits at the moment, but the pandemic's massive impact is, at the very least, a powerful reminder of the value of safety nets. When the WHO finally declared coronavirus a pandemic, all eyes have turned to the prospect of a vaccine, because only a vaccine can prevent people from getting sick. Scientists have been scrambling to create a vaccine against coronavirus since the pandemic broke out in December.

About 35 companies and academic institutions are racing to create such a vaccine, at least four of which already have candidates they have been testing in animals. The first of these - produced by Boston-based biotech firm Moderna in USA- will enter human trials in April. As scientists scramble to develop a vaccine, researchers at Australia said they had taken an important step in understanding the virus by mapping the immune responses from one of country's first coronavirus patients. The findings may help scientists understand why some patients recover while others develop more serious respiratory problems.

A medical research centre based in Iran disclosed that it is testing a vaccine which promises to eradicate the killer coronavirus. According to statement, the vaccine is awaiting permits from Iran's Food and Drug Organization to enter the clinical phase. The main goal of this first set of tests is to find out if the vaccine is safe. If it is, later studies will determine how well it works. Such rapid development of a potential vaccine is unprecedented, and it was possible because researchers were able to use what they already knew about related coronavirus that had caused other diseases outbreaks, SARS and MERS.

Despite the rapid progress, even if the vaccine is proved safe and effective against the virus, it will not be available for at least a year.
At this time, there is no vaccine for COVID-19 or any natural health products that are authorized to use against it. There is a difference between advice to self-monitor, advice to self-isolate and advice to isolate. It is important to note these measures are in place to protect our health and safety.

The writer is banker and freelance     contributor


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