Perspectives in Medical Research

Abstract

The emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases are not uncommon to humans. We have been seeing this, repeated many a time in the past, that the new/novel microbial species emerge and pose a potential threat to the whole of mankind. Among those infectious diseases which threatened mankind, the Smallpox virus appears to have had the greatest impact. Smallpox virus was suspected to be present on the earth since 10,000 B.C., but its presence and the effect on humans was established only in the late 18th century to the early 20th century when people suffered from its consequences. Most people (>75%) infected with smallpox died, leaving a sense of doom among humans. Later, or probably during the same time, there was the emergence of an infectious disease called “plague”, which swept across many countries and caused a lot of mortality. This disease was also called the black death, due to the nature of lesions caused and the thousands of people who were dying in very less time. We have also seen the emergence of a novel influenza virus, the Spanish flu (1918) which caused a severe pandemic. Interestingly, all these infectious diseases caused pandemics involving several countries, and causing increased mortality, especially in the European continent. In this editorial I discuss the significance of the most recent pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2), also called Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).