The new virus of COVID-19 could never “disappear” and become a disease with which humanity will have to learn to live, warned the World Health Organization.
The elimination of COVID: an almost impossible possibility
Eradicating infectious diseases is not something that happens every day. Absolutely.
In fact, to date, the WHO has declared only two viral diseases officially eradicated, smallpox and rinderpest.
Can COVID-19 be eradicated?
No. So far, only one human disease, smallpox, has been officially eradicated.
That is, reduced to zero cases and maintained in the long term without continuous intervention measures. Smallpox was eradicated thanks to a highly effective vaccine and the fact that humans are the only mammals that are naturally susceptible to infection with the variola virus that causes the disfiguring, sometimes fatal disease.
Humans are the only known reservoir for the polio virus, but it still spreads in some countries and causes crippling disease, despite the widespread use of effective immunizations and a 32-year global eradication effort.
SARS-CoV-2 is believed to exist in nature in bats, and it is known to infect mink, cats, gorillas, and other animals. Eliminating the virus would require banishing it from all susceptible species, which is not feasible.
What is deletion?
It is when efforts to suppress an outbreak have resulted in zero new cases of a disease or infection in a defined area over an extended period.
There is no official definition of how long it should be. One proposal is for it to be 28 days. This corresponds to twice as long as the outer range of the SARS-CoV-2 incubation period, the time between infection and the onset of symptoms.
Some countries, like New Zealand, have achieved zero new cases over extended periods through the use of border closures. Blocking and diligent case detection and isolation.
But as that country has shown, maintaining national elimination of any infectious disease is challenging. If not impossible, due to the threat of the virus re-entering the country by infected travelers.
Is it possible that people should get vaccinated against COVID every year, like the flu vaccine?
According to Dr. Alejandro Cané, Head of Scientific and Medical Affairs for North America in Pfizer’s vaccines division, there are two parts:
“One is the pandemic situation and the other is the virus. I think there was no way out of the pandemic without a vaccine available. The vaccine is what will allow us to control and eliminate the pandemic ”.
Without a vaccine, everyone would be in the same dramatic situation that we saw in 2020 in the United States. If we now have a light at the end of the tunnel and the end of the tunnel itself is much closer, it is because we have vaccines and people are getting vaccinated.
“That said, I believe that this virus is here to stay and although we are now focused on ensuring that this vaccine allows us to stop the pandemic, then we will evaluate whether or not we will need an annual vaccination to maintain protection and avoid serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths. as happens with other respiratory viruses such as Influenza, Adenovirus or respiratory Syncytial ”.
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