Age of viruses

Age of Viruses
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What are the attributes of a particularly dangerous emerging infectious disease?
Dangerous and emerging infectious diseases are highly infective. They can be easily transmitted between humans and from animals to humans. They can also be transmitted through mere contact and body fluids ADDIN CSL_CITATION { “citationItems” : [ { “id” : “ITEM-1”, “itemData” : { “DOI” : “10.3201/eid0101.950102”, “ISBN” : “1080-6040 (Print)\r1080-6040 (Linking)”, “ISSN” : “10806040”, “PMID” : “8903148”, “abstract” : “”Emerging” infectious diseases can be defined as infections that have newly appeared in a population or have existed but are rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range. Among recent examples are HIV/AIDS, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Lyme disease, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (a foodborne infection caused by certain strains of Escherichia coli). Specific factors precipitating disease emergence can be identified in virtually all cases. These include ecological, environmental, or demographic factors that place people at increased contact with a previously unfamiliar microbe or its natural host or promote dissemination. These factors are increasing in prevalence; this increase, together with the ongoing evolution of viral and microbial variants and selection for drug resistance, suggests that infections will continue to emerge and probably increase and emphasizes the urgent need for effective surveillance and control. Dr. David Satcher’s article and this overview inaugurate Perspectives, a regular section in this journal intended to present and develop unifying concepts and strategies for considering emerging infections and their underlying factors.

The editors welcome, as contributions to the Perspectives section, overviews, syntheses, and case studies that shed light on how and why infections emerge, and how they may be anticipated and prevented.”, “author” : [ { “dropping-particle” : “”, “family” : “Morse”, “given” : “Stephen S.”, “non-dropping-particle” : “”, “parse-names” : false, “suffix” : “” } ], “container-title” : “Emerging Infectious Diseases”, “id” : “ITEM-1”, “issue” : “1”, “issued” : { “date-parts” : [ [ “1995” ] ] }, “page” : “7-15”, “title” : “Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases”, “type” : “article-journal”, “volume” : “1” }, “uris” : [ “http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=d771176d-a75f-453d-9a32-253c352c24db” ] } ], “mendeley” : { “formattedCitation” : “(Morse, 1995)”, “plainTextFormattedCitation” : “(Morse, 1995)”, “previouslyFormattedCitation” : “(Morse, 1995)” }, “properties” : { }, “schema” : “https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json” }(Morse, 1995).
Many of these infectious diseases are a high hazard or high case fatality. They are known to cause death within a short period of time in mass numbers.
Many of these infectious diseases’ reservoirs are indefinite and unknown.
They lack efficacious treatment measures.
These diseases are highly adaptable in the sense that they can be active and inert at the same time.
Such infectious diseases can be produced in large masses within a short period of time.
What features of modern society influence dissemination of viral diseases of this nature?
Many viral diseases have taken the advantage of societal features such as the close proximity of animals and human beings.
Another feature has been the ease of travel. Air travel has been earmarked as a critical risk factor for the spread of new viral diseases such as SARS and H1N1 ADDIN CSL_CITATION { “citationItems” : [ { “id” : “ITEM-1”, “itemData” : { “DOI” : “10.1038/emi.2012.47”, “ISBN” : “2222-1751 (Print)r2222-1751 (Linking)”, “ISSN” : “22221751”, “PMID” : “26038413”, “abstract” : “Emerging virus diseases are a major threat to human and veterinary public health. With new examples occurring approximately one each year, the majority are viruses originating from an animal host. Of the many factors responsible, changes to local ecosystems that perturb the balance between pathogen and principal host species is one of the major drivers, together with increasing urbanization of mankind and changes in human behavior. Many emerging viruses have RNA genomes and as such are capable of rapid mutation and selection of new variants in the face of environmental changes in host numbers and available target species. This review summarizes recent work on aspects of virus emergence and the current understanding of the molecular and immunological basis whereby viruses may cross between species and become established in new ecological niches. Emergence is hard to predict, although mathematical modeling and spatial epidemiology have done much to improve the prediction of where emergence may occur. However, much needs to be done to ensure adequate surveillance is maintained of animal species known to present the greatest risk thus increasing general alertness among physicians, veterinarians and those responsible for formulating public health policy.”, “author” : [ { “dropping-particle” : “”, “family” : “Howard”, “given” : “Colin R.”, “non-dropping-particle” : “”, “parse-names” : false, “suffix” : “” }, { “dropping-particle” : “”, “family” : “Fletcher”, “given” : “Nicola F.”, “non-dropping-particle” : “”, “parse-names” : false, “suffix” : “” } ], “container-title” : “Emerging Microbes and Infections”, “id” : “ITEM-1”, “issued” : { “date-parts” : [ [ “2012” ] ] }, “title” : “Emerging virus diseases: Can we ever expect the unexpected?”, “type” : “article”, “volume” : “1” }, “uris” : [ “http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=19f05494-8658-4ba6-80c0-a75b93169618” ] } ], “mendeley” : { “formattedCitation” : “(Howard & Fletcher, 2012)”, “plainTextFormattedCitation” : “(Howard & Fletcher, 2012)”, “previouslyFormattedCitation” : “(Howard & Fletcher, 2012)” }, “properties” : { }, “schema” : “https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json” }(Howard & Fletcher, 2012).
Human demographics change and technology have also influenced the transmissibility of these viruses.
Climate change also influences the dissemination of these diseases.
Finally, the breakdown of public health policies and facilities in third world countries can also be attributed to the increased dissemination of these viral diseases.
If you were in charge of distributing one-hundred million dollars in research funds but could only choose one viral disease to provide for, which disease would you endow and why?
The HIV virus. This is mainly because of its high dissemination levels in many parts of the globe. These incidence rates in developed nations such as the US are also worrying. How do you think the medical and scientific community should use your millions?
I would like the money to be channeled into various HIV and AIDS research centers to facilitate disease surveillance, as well as drug and vaccine research.
References
ADDIN Mendeley Bibliography CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Howard, C. R., & Fletcher, N. F. (2012). Emerging virus diseases: Can we ever expect the unexpected? Emerging Microbes and Infections. https://doi.org/10.1038/emi.2012.47
Morse, S. S. (1995). Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1(1), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0101.950102