The turn of the millennium has seen the emergence of numerous new viruses, and thus global health has become a severe issue. New viruses which are Zika, Ebola, and above all SARS-CoV-2 which caused the COVID-19 pandemic are among these novel pathogens, impacting the world’s health greatly. Knowledge on the coming up of new viruses, why they are being discovered, their impacts, and the current position of cure and update on these viruses is very important to cope with the threats posed by the viruses.
New Virus emergence and the causes behind it.
Globalization and Increased Mobility: Globalization is also another factor that means the quick and frequent ability of people and products to travel and transport from one country to another enhances the ability of the viruses to spread. The disease is infectious and the patient can easily move from one region to another with the pathogen infecting the new population.
Climate Change: These factors put people at risk of infections by changing the climate, which rearranges the principal territories of mosquitoes and other insect-borne diseases. Today’s movement can put pathogens in touch with new hosts, such as humans.
Urbanization: This is because more people are relocating to urban areas and this calls for close contact with one another and this is advantageous to the viruses as they can undoubtedly infect a countless number of people.
Deforestation and Habitat Encroachment: Contact with wildlife and their habitats is considered a major factor for zoonotic diseases/ viruses that spread from animals to people. The implication here is that the closer human and animals contact becomes, the higher the likelihood that a virus will be transmitted.
Agricultural Practices: Zootechnics, specifically the method of intensive animal production and the practice of feeding animals with antibiotics increase the chance of the viruses to proliferate and even cross species barriers with the likelihood of infecting humans thus the need to seek humane methods of controlling cross-species transmission of viruses.
Effects of Viruses
The consequences of new viruses on the health of the population can be rather dramatic. An example of a global adversely affected situation is the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed millions of lives and shaken economies globally: The effects of such viruses include:
Morbidity and Mortality: A new virus means a huge amount of illness and people can die. The mortality rate depends on the particular type of virus, the health status of the population, and the efficiency of the measures taken.
Economic Disruption: Epidemics disrupt economic activities due to lock dow, loss of jobs, business shutdowns, and even economic adversity.
Healthcare Strain: This might be due to seasonal factors, outbreaks such as that observed in the current COVID-19 pandemic, among others. This strain can lower the quality of care that is delivered to all the patients, including those with the virus.
Social and Psychological Impact: A weak immune system, general panic, and measures in the form of isolation can cause different mental disorders and social unrest.
Statistics and Increasing Trends
Symptomatic of the situation is what seems to be a rising trend in the discovery of new viruses. For example, in the past few decades, several significant viruses have been identified:For example, in the past few decades, several significant viruses have been identified:
SARS-CoV-1 (2003): Management of more than eight thousand patients along with nearly eight hundred fatalities.
H1N1 Influenza (2009): It is believed that approximately 1.4 billion people infected and up to 575 thousand deaths.
Ebola Virus (2014-2016): The number of reported cases is over 28 thousand, and the number of deaths is over 11 thousand.
Zika Virus (2015-2016): Horn of state is allowing thousands of infections and significant birth defects.
COVID-19 (2019-present): About 500 million infected people and over 6 million losses of life as of the middle of the year 2023.
Cures and Treatments
Practical prevention and treatments are attained more easily for most of viruses through vaccines and antiviral drugs; however, some have no ultimate cure. For instance:
COVID-19: An effective treatment and prevention method has been created quickly; the probability of getting a serious disease or dying is low.
Ebola: Vaccines and treatment exists and has since been administered to the global population.
Zika: There is no specific antiviral treatment for Dhf; symptomatic treatment for fever and the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases are used.
HIV: Unfortunately, there is no cure for this disease but antiretroviral therapy (ART) can control the virus wonderfully.
Real-Time Information and Future Research
The global health community also still desensitizes to newly mutating viruses. Key updates include:
Enhanced Surveillance: Enhanced global surveillance systems to early contingency.
Vaccine Development: New technology of the mRNA used in developing and deploying vaccines at a very fast rate.
International Cooperation: More coordination in the international levels in tackling health risks.
Research and Innovation: Continued investigation of the prospect of antiviral pharmaceuticals, remedies, and prophylaxes.
Conclusion
The idea of the viruses cannot be discovered and their occurrences are a multifaceted interaction between the environment, social relations and biological need. Personally, we can cite such pathogens as ebola, swine flu, sars, bird flu, etc; though their effects are catastrophic, science and cooperation provides solutions. Prolific efforts are still required in order to avert the new threats to global health posed by new viral infections.
More resources for research;
https://www.who.int/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/home.html
