COVID-19 and Other Pandemics: How Might They Be Prevented?

Abstract

Pandemics such as influenza, smallpox, and plague have caused the loss of hundreds of millions of lives and have occurred for many centuries. Fortunately, they have been largely eliminated by the use of vaccinations and drugs. More recently, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and now Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have arisen, and given the current absence of highly effective approved vaccines or drugs, brute-force approaches involving physical barriers are being used to counter virus spread. A major basis for physical protection from respiratory infections is eye, nose, and mouth protection. However, eye protection with goggles is problematic due to “fogging”, while nose/mouth protection is complicated by the breathing difficulties associated with non-valved respirators. Here, we give a brief review of the origins and development of face masks and eye protection to counter respiratory infections on the basis of experiments conducted 100 years ago, work that was presaged by the first use of personal protective equipment, “PPE”, by the plague doctors of the 17th Century. The results of the review lead to two conclusions: first, that eye protection using filtered eye masks be used to prevent ocular transmission; second, that new, pre-filtered, valved respirators be used to even more effectively block viral transmission.

Long-Term Respiratory and Neurological Sequelae of COVID-19

“…Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 increased through the winter of 2019 and 2020, the hot summer of 2020, and into the autumn of 2020. The high rates of airborne and contact spread and persistence of the virus on surfaces explain the rapid spread and the difficulty in controlling infection and the development of COVID-19 [ 3 ]. According to the currently available evidence, SARS-CoV-2 can affect every organ in the body, leading to acute organ damage and long-term sequelae, with the latter effects only recently becoming realized [ 4 ].…”

Pandemias e suas repercussões sociais ao longo da história associado ao novo SARS-COV-2: Um estudo de revisão

“…Embora esses agentes infecciosos tenham se originado em animais outrora selvagens que foram domesticados, nossa crescente pegada ecológica parece atualmente estar levando a um aumento exponencial no transbordamento de outros patógenos diretamente da vida selvagem para as pessoas (Morens et al, 2020). (Oldfield & Malwal, 2020). Máscaras faciais têm sido amplamente utilizadas em muitas partes da Ásia desde a epidemia de (SARS) bem como em surtos de gripe, e agora estão sendo obrigatórias em muitos países (Oldfield & Malwal, 2020).…”

“…(Oldfield & Malwal, 2020). Máscaras faciais têm sido amplamente utilizadas em muitas partes da Ásia desde a epidemia de (SARS) bem como em surtos de gripe, e agora estão sendo obrigatórias em muitos países (Oldfield & Malwal, 2020). Em contrapartida o estudo observacional de Spitale (2020) nos traz uma reflexão sistemática sobre os princípios da quarentena.…”

“…Atingindo a américa latina em fevereiro do mesmo ano levando a um total de 1 milhão de mortos (Vicentini & Contini, 2020). Outra que merece destaque foi a gripe espanhola, iniciada após a primeira guerra mundial (Oldfield & Malwal, 2020). Alastrando-se rapidamente em decorrência da movimentação gerada pela guerra (Cox et al, 2014).…”

Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of the Lockdown in Russia During the Spread of Covid-19 and the Ways to Overcome Them

“…At that time, there were 126,000 infected people in the world. [1,2]There are now over 19 million infection cases and 718,000 deaths. Coronavirus tests (by PCR or antibody determination) are done for people with severe acute respiratory infections or for epidemiological indications.…”