2021, Number 2
A pandemic that is here to stay
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Language: English/Spanish [Versi?n en espa?ol]
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Page: 110-112
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In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 infection as a pandemic, a situation that forces us to establish radical changes in our "uses and customs". While it is true that pandemics are not new phenomena, historically, pandemics have been reported since 1200 B.C.; of which there is a lack of reliable information, but examples with relatively reliable data stand out: the plague of Justinian (Yersinia pestis) in 542 A.D. with 30 million deaths,1 in 1346 the black death (Yersinia pestis), which, in its second manifestation caused 56 million deaths, followed by the Spanish flu (influenza virus A H1N1), with 40 million deaths,2 are references of the pandemics with more deaths.
Before the current pandemic, in 1981, the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, which to date accounts for 33 million deaths,3 led to essential changes in infection control. However, there were also unfounded fears and erroneous assertions such as the dental surgeon and his patients could easily become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through saliva, sweat, tears, a kiss, a needle stick, or a contaminated dental instrument, as well as unprotected sex.
Similarly, the media at the time (newspapers and newscasts) reported an increase in the number of infections, both in countries and cities and in the number of cases. This syndrome was initially detected in the United States of America by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in California, in apparently healthy young homosexuals who developed pneumonia due to rare pneumococcus (Pneumocystis carinii) and progressive immunodeficiency with diarrhea, weight loss, digestive disorders, rare sarcomas such as, mainly, Kaposi's sarcoma, passing later to the open population, including newborns, whose mothers were positive for this virus.
It should be recalled that hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was relatively frequent in dental surgeons. Unfortunately, our dental school (National Autonomous University of Mexico) lacked, at that time, an infection control policy; there were no sterilization centers for instruments, the student took them home for "sterilization" (a process that consisted of boiling them in a pot), the dental units did not have suction, the use of mouth covers or gloves was not mandatory, the needles for anesthesia were reusable, etc. In order to reduce the infection of hepatitis B (which fortunately the vaccine was available), our faculty was the first to vaccinate all its students, academics, and administrative staff, reducing its incidence considerably.
Regarding the current pandemic, based on scientific evidence and previous experiences, the central authorities and our faculty for the prevention and safety of the community, made up of teachers, students, administrative workers, and patients, are one step ahead.
Charles Darwin 150 years ago, said: "Life finds its own ways", a situation that is very clear in the behavior of living beings, even when it is considered that viruses are not living beings, they seek ways to reproduce and adapt, in the case of the COVID-19 virus, they develop new variants, alpha has been surpassed by variants that reproduce more and faster, "improve" their contamination characteristics, spread faster, have a more viral load, affect more children (unvaccinated), currently the concern is delta plus; therefore, I consider that this virus wants to remain and survive.
In my opinion, this infection "is here to stay"; but as more and better vaccines are developed, new clinical and social sanitary measures are emphasized, and despite the variants of this virus, the control of the infection is being achieved, the pandemic category will end; there will be new outbreaks as happens in many infectious diseases, but without becoming a pandemic again, as long as we continue to cooperate with our authorities and go one step ahead!
REFERENCES
AFFILIATIONS
1 Departamento de Medicina y Patología Bucal, División de Estudios de Postgrado e Investigación, Facultad de Odontología de la UNAM. México.
CORRESPONDENCE
Dr. Javier Portilla Robertson. E-mail: jpr@unam.mx