From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist
Never before have the media focused on a single infectious disease as they have in the case of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that started to spread globally from China at the end of 2019. The consequences of the pandemic on health, economics, and the societal conditions of isolated individuals h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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World Scientific Publishing
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Molecular Frontiers Journal |
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| Online Access: | http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/epdf/10.1142/S2529732520400052 |
| _version_ | 1811270718040571904 |
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| author | Erling Norrby |
| author_facet | Erling Norrby |
| author_sort | Erling Norrby |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Never before have the media focused on a single infectious disease as they have in the case of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that started to spread globally from China at the end of 2019. The consequences of the pandemic on health, economics, and the societal conditions of isolated individuals have been discussed from a range of different perspectives. Virologists are expected to be capable of providing immediate answers to many different kinds of questions—how and under what conditions is an individual infectious, what are the relative roles of the different arms of the immune system, do reinfections occur, when will a vaccine preventing infection with the virus become available, what are the possibilities of developing antiviral drugs capable of interfering with the disease, and so on. In many cases there are no immediate answers, since virologists globally are still in the middle of researching the particular problem in the focus of interest. The only proper answer to demanding questions of this kind should be “Welcome to the workshop of virologists.” However, what needs to be emphasized is that the tools available to understand the details of the interaction of a particular virus and the various organs in an infected human host have changed dramatically during the somewhat more than a hundred years of studies of viruses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T22:08:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0fa42902a17c4139b0b92f92f9cc3d53 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2529-7325 2529-7333 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T22:08:12Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecular Frontiers Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-0fa42902a17c4139b0b92f92f9cc3d532022-12-22T03:14:51ZengWorld Scientific PublishingMolecular Frontiers Journal2529-73252529-73332020-06-01401n0281610.1142/S252973252040005210.1142/S2529732520400052From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a VirologistErling Norrby0Center for History of Science, The Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Box 50005, SE-10405, Stockholm, SwedenNever before have the media focused on a single infectious disease as they have in the case of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that started to spread globally from China at the end of 2019. The consequences of the pandemic on health, economics, and the societal conditions of isolated individuals have been discussed from a range of different perspectives. Virologists are expected to be capable of providing immediate answers to many different kinds of questions—how and under what conditions is an individual infectious, what are the relative roles of the different arms of the immune system, do reinfections occur, when will a vaccine preventing infection with the virus become available, what are the possibilities of developing antiviral drugs capable of interfering with the disease, and so on. In many cases there are no immediate answers, since virologists globally are still in the middle of researching the particular problem in the focus of interest. The only proper answer to demanding questions of this kind should be “Welcome to the workshop of virologists.” However, what needs to be emphasized is that the tools available to understand the details of the interaction of a particular virus and the various organs in an infected human host have changed dramatically during the somewhat more than a hundred years of studies of viruses.http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/epdf/10.1142/S2529732520400052history of virologyvirus characterizationviral vaccinesantiviral compoundscovid-19 |
| spellingShingle | Erling Norrby From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist Molecular Frontiers Journal history of virology virus characterization viral vaccines antiviral compounds covid-19 |
| title | From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist |
| title_full | From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist |
| title_fullStr | From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist |
| title_short | From Poliomyelitis to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Reflections by a Virologist |
| title_sort | from poliomyelitis to the covid 19 pandemic reflections by a virologist |
| topic | history of virology virus characterization viral vaccines antiviral compounds covid-19 |
| url | http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/epdf/10.1142/S2529732520400052 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT erlingnorrby frompoliomyelitistothecovid19pandemicreflectionsbyavirologist |