Editing 2448: Eradication
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[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 eventually becoming "another circulating common cold virus". This was considered to be a [https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6530/741 serious possibility], as a combination and vaccines and acquired immunity cause most people to have some degree of immunity as they age. This is particularly likely because SARS-CoV-2 was not believed to pose significant risk to small children, and if most people are infected with it in childhood, they'll likely be immune as adults. Multiple other coronaviruses are common in the human population, and fall under the category of "the common cold", causing only minor and temporary symptoms, with little serious risk for most people. | [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 eventually becoming "another circulating common cold virus". This was considered to be a [https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6530/741 serious possibility], as a combination and vaccines and acquired immunity cause most people to have some degree of immunity as they age. This is particularly likely because SARS-CoV-2 was not believed to pose significant risk to small children, and if most people are infected with it in childhood, they'll likely be immune as adults. Multiple other coronaviruses are common in the human population, and fall under the category of "the common cold", causing only minor and temporary symptoms, with little serious risk for most people. | ||
| β | If SARS-CoV-2 does transition to being a minor disease, there will be little reason to continue focused eradication efforts, because the ongoing harm will be too little to justify such efforts. It's extremely difficult to wipe out a virus | + | If SARS-CoV-2 does transition to being a minor disease, there will be little reason to continue focused eradication efforts, because the ongoing harm will be too little to justify such efforts. It's extremely difficult to wipe out a virus all together, as it requires every human population to be either isolated from the disease, or vaccinated until {{W|herd immunity}} is achieved. There are only two viruses which have been totally eliminated in the wild: {{W|Smallpox}} and {{W|rinderpest}}, and rinderpest infects only cattle and other ruminants, not humans. The elimination of smallpox was one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the 20th century, and resulted from an aggressive and ambitious global vaccination effort. Smallpox is now considered to be extinct in the wild, with only a small number of samples still preserved in government labs. |
Where diseases continue to be dangerous, ongoing global efforts are made to eliminate them entirely (polio, measles and rubella are currently targets of such programs). If a disease ultimately becomes more or less harmless, its elimination is less of a priority. | Where diseases continue to be dangerous, ongoing global efforts are made to eliminate them entirely (polio, measles and rubella are currently targets of such programs). If a disease ultimately becomes more or less harmless, its elimination is less of a priority. | ||
