from the editor
from the editor
The Next Epidemic is Coming
For infection preventionists who were practicing in the 1980s , HIV represented one of the first major unknown pathogens that caught scientists and the public health community by surprise , but it had also been preceded by a baffling , atypical pneumonia outbreak at a convention in Philadelphia in 1976 that was later solved as being caused by Legionella pneumophila . It was a reminder that the microbe world was capable of producing heretofore unseen diseases of epic proportions .
Fast-forward to 2018 , just a year before SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic , when the World Health Organization ( WHO ) added a new category to its emergency priority list – Disease X – in the recognition that a “ serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease .”
As Honigsbaum ( 2019 ) observes , “ Given the history of microbiology and that the past century has been littered with similar missed alarms , the only wonder is that WHO did not think to coin the term Disease X sooner . From the 1918 “ Spanish ” influenza pandemic — initially blamed on a bacterium rather than a virus — to … the epidemics of Ebola virus disease and Zika virus infection in the 21st century , medical confidence has been repeatedly rocked by unexpected outbreaks of infectious disease .”
He adds , “ This is not simply because , as is sometimes argued , microbes are constantly mutating and evolving , outstripping our ability to keep pace with their shifting genetics and transmission patterns . It is also because of the tendency of medical researchers to become prisoners of particular scientific models and theories of disease causation , blinding them to the threats posed by pathogens both known and unknown . Thus , in the case of SARS , scientists ’ delay in realizing they were dealing with a new respiratory pathogen was due in no small part to their conviction that the world was on the brink of an epidemic of H5N1 avian influenza — a view that seemed to be confirmed when ducks , geese , and swans suddenly began dying in two Hong Kong parks . In other words , the known threat of H5N1 blinded researchers to the unknown threat of SARS .”
In this month ’ s cover story we briefly take a look at what some experts have to say about the coming of the next Pathogen X / Disease X . As science reporter Laurie Garrett , who stated in her 1994 book , The Coming Plague , AIDS “ does not stand alone ,” but rather is a harbinger of epidemics and pandemics to come . Will we be ready ?
Until next month , bust those bugs ! Kelly M . Pyrek Editor & Publisher kelly @ healthcarehygienemagazine . com
Reference : Honigsbaum M . Disease X and other unknowns . Lancet . April 11 , 2019 ; 393 ( 10180 ): 1496-1497 healthcarehygienemagazine
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6 november 2023 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com