Pandemic
Nurses On The Front Lines: A History Of Heroism From Florence Nightingale To Coronavirus
Nurses are heroes of the COVID-19 crisis. May 12 is International Nurses Day, which commemorates the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the first “professional nurse.” The World Health Organization also named this year the “Year of the Nurse” in honor of Nightingale’s 200th birthday. To nurses everywhere, this day and this year have great significance. Nurses, …
Coronavirus: Could The World Have Prepared Better For A Pandemic?
As much of the world gets used to social distancing, school closures and restrictions in movement in response to the coronavirus pandemic, obvious questions are being asked about how governments and companies can prepare themselves for these sorts of extreme events. One technique that has gained prominence in helping business people and officials deal with …
The Mysterious Disappearance Of The First SARS Virus, And Why We Need A Vaccine For The Current One But Didn’t For The Other
Some people question why the current coronavirus has brought the world to standstill while a previous deadly coronavirus, SARS, did not. Others have questioned why a vaccine is so urgently needed now to stop the spread of the current coronavirus when a vaccine was never developed for SARS. I study viruses and am so fascinated …
How Cities Can Prepare For The Next Pandemic
According to Johns Hopkins CSSE, the COVID-19 outbreak has recorded more than 140,000 confirmed cases, thousands of which are already fatalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic, a proof of the gravity of the current disease outbreak that is plaguing us. No one could possibly think that this is the …
Why So Many Epidemics Originate In Asia And Africa – And Why We Can Expect More
The coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, is a frightening reminder of the imminent global threat posed by emerging infectious diseases. Although epidemics have arisen during all of human history, they now seem to be on the rise. In just the past 20 years, coronaviruses alone have caused three major outbreaks worldwide. Even more troubling, the …
Coronavirus: We Need To Start Preparing For The Next Viral Outbreak Now
The coronavirus outbreak is officially a crisis – let’s not waste it. Undeniably, the international community is taking the matter very seriously, as it should given that the death total from the COVID-19 epidemic already well surpasses that from SARS in the early 2000s. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency …
We’re In Danger Of Drowning In A Coronavirus ‘Infodemic’. Here’s How We Can Cut Through The Noise
The novel coronavirus that has so far killed more than 1,100 people now has a name – COVID-19. The World Health Organisation (WHO) didn’t want the name to refer to a place, animal or certain group of people and needed something pronounceable and related to the disease. “Having a name matters to prevent the use …
The Simple Reason Why We Are Seeing More New Infectious Diseases Today
One would think that our world, compared to the past centuries where pandemics have killed millions of people is better equipped when it comes to fending off diseases thanks to medical breakthroughs and innovations. Intuitively, we expect less infectious diseases to pop out and spread today. Confusing truth However, we know that this is not …
What We Know Suggests The Economic Impact Of Wuhan Coronavirus Will Be Limited
The Wuhan coronavirus has had a significant human toll. More than 100 people have died and nearly 3,000 are known to be infected, including some in Australia. The number actually infected will be higher. People experiencing only mild symptoms often don’t report them. The economic cost is as hard to tease out as the health …