Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses
Abstract With three major viral pandemics over the last 100 years, namely the Spanish flu, AIDS and COVID‐19 each claiming many millions of lives, pandemic preparedness has become an important issue for public health. The economic, social and political consequences of the upheaval caused by such pan...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Microbial Biotechnology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14431 |
| _version_ | 1827304457669443584 |
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| author | Harald Brüssow |
| author_facet | Harald Brüssow |
| author_sort | Harald Brüssow |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract With three major viral pandemics over the last 100 years, namely the Spanish flu, AIDS and COVID‐19 each claiming many millions of lives, pandemic preparedness has become an important issue for public health. The economic, social and political consequences of the upheaval caused by such pandemics also represent a major challenge for governments with respect to sustainable development goals. The field of pandemic preparedness is vast and the current article can only address selected aspects. The article looks first backwards and addresses the question of the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) on the trajectory of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The article looks then forward by asking to what extent viral candidates for future pandemics can be predicted by virome analyses from metagenome and transcriptome sequencing, by focusing on the virome from specific animal species and using ecological and epidemiological data about spillover viral infections in veterinary and human medicine. As a comprehensive overview on pandemic preparedness is beyond the capacity of a single reviewer, only selected topics will be discussed using recent key scientific publications. Since COVID‐19 has not run its course, a computational program able to predict the future evolution of SARS‐CoV‐2 is mentioned that could assist proactive mRNA vaccine developments against possible future variants of concern. Ending the COVID‐19 epidemic necessitates mucosal vaccines that can suppress the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 and therefore this article closes by discussing a promising and versatile protein nanoparticle experimental vaccine approach for inhalation that does not depend on needles nor a cold chain for distribution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:35:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-46627c85d6c74915bcbedf2a816741a2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1751-7915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:35:56Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbial Biotechnology |
| spelling | doaj.art-46627c85d6c74915bcbedf2a816741a22024-03-28T04:50:34ZengWileyMicrobial Biotechnology1751-79152024-03-01173n/an/a10.1111/1751-7915.14431Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic virusesHarald Brüssow0Laboratory of Gene Technology, Department of Biosystems KU Leuven Leuven BelgiumAbstract With three major viral pandemics over the last 100 years, namely the Spanish flu, AIDS and COVID‐19 each claiming many millions of lives, pandemic preparedness has become an important issue for public health. The economic, social and political consequences of the upheaval caused by such pandemics also represent a major challenge for governments with respect to sustainable development goals. The field of pandemic preparedness is vast and the current article can only address selected aspects. The article looks first backwards and addresses the question of the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) on the trajectory of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The article looks then forward by asking to what extent viral candidates for future pandemics can be predicted by virome analyses from metagenome and transcriptome sequencing, by focusing on the virome from specific animal species and using ecological and epidemiological data about spillover viral infections in veterinary and human medicine. As a comprehensive overview on pandemic preparedness is beyond the capacity of a single reviewer, only selected topics will be discussed using recent key scientific publications. Since COVID‐19 has not run its course, a computational program able to predict the future evolution of SARS‐CoV‐2 is mentioned that could assist proactive mRNA vaccine developments against possible future variants of concern. Ending the COVID‐19 epidemic necessitates mucosal vaccines that can suppress the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 and therefore this article closes by discussing a promising and versatile protein nanoparticle experimental vaccine approach for inhalation that does not depend on needles nor a cold chain for distribution.https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14431 |
| spellingShingle | Harald Brüssow Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses Microbial Biotechnology |
| title | Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses |
| title_full | Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses |
| title_fullStr | Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses |
| title_short | Pandemic preparedness: On the efficacy of non‐pharmaceutical interventions in COVID‐19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses |
| title_sort | pandemic preparedness on the efficacy of non pharmaceutical interventions in covid 19 and about approaches to predict future pandemic viruses |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14431 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT haraldbrussow pandemicpreparednessontheefficacyofnonpharmaceuticalinterventionsincovid19andaboutapproachestopredictfuturepandemicviruses |