Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, most of the news has been about the research and the progress over the virus. However, health experts have stated that while the crisis does require maximum coverage till the end of the ongoing health crisis, the re-emerging diseases during coronavirus pandemic should also be taken seriously.
While controlling the coronavirus and ending the public health crisis is the number one priority right now, the new study highlights several other health concerns.
More specifically, a map created and used in the study to show the re-emerging, as well as new threats to public health, shows that along with ending the pandemic, there is a need for multiple reforms and changes that will avoid a further epidemic of other pathogens.
The map in the study, which appears in the journal Cell, has both some of the well-known diseases that have been responsible for hundreds of death in the past and newly discovered pathogens.
For instance, it shows that health conditions such as diphtheria, cholera, Ebola, and typhoid fever are being increasingly diagnosed yet again in some parts of the world.
At the same time, a number of newly discovered viruses such as influenza viruses and the Bourbon virus, Akhmeta virus, and Hendra virus are also spreading rapidly in certain areas.
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If not controlled on time, any of these pathogens can emerge and cause yet another global health crisis in no time which may perhaps be even worse than the current coronavirus pandemic.
Furthermore, it is now well-known that the global healthcare system is not well-equipped to handle public health emergencies and therefore has been strained in the past six months with a big number of coronavirus patients and lack of facilities as well as places for accommodation.
Future outbreaks of pathogens can strain the system even more and perhaps be proven even more difficult to control since it will take a lot of time to recover from the coronavirus health crisis.
Most of the pathogens shown on the map have little to no research on them as they have been recently discovered. So, does the map in fact show that the world may never be normal again like it used to be prior to the ongoing pandemic?
While the map does portray potential health threats, it also shows how the changes in the world in the past two decades such as technological advancements and increase in interconnectivity have been beneficial for controlling health epidemics.
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There are now more chances to control and contain outbreaks by different pathogens including both new and re-emerging diseases during coronavirus pandemic than ever before.
The collaboration of the world’s leading scientists and health professionals over the concern of controlling the coronavirus health crisis around the world is the primary example of how multiple diseases can be controlled in comparatively lesser time due to the interconnectedness of the world.
