Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know®

268 Pages·2013·1.7 MB·English

by  Peter C. Doherty

PANDEMICS
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW
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PANDEMICS
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW
PETER C. DOHERTY

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© Peter C. Doherty 2013
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Doherty, P. C. (Peter C.)
Pandemics / Peter C. Doherty.
p. ; cm.—(What everyone needs to know)
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary: “From HIV to H1N1, pandemics pose one of the greatest threats to global
health in the twenty-fi rst century. Defi ned as epidemics of infectious disease across
large geographic areas, pandemics can disseminate globally with incredible speed as
humans and goods move faster than ever before. While restricted travel, quarantine,
vaccines, drugs, and education can reduce the severity of many outbreaks, factors such
as global warming, population density, and antibiotic resistance will complicate our
ability to fi ght disease. Respiratory infections like infl uenza and SARS spread quickly
as a consequence of modern, mass air travel, while unsafe health practices promote the
spread of viruses like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. In Pandemics: What Everyone Needs
to Know, Nobel Prize-winning immunologist Peter Doherty addresses the history
of pandemics and the ones that persist today, what promotes global spread, types of
pathogens and the level of threat they pose, as well as how to combat outbreaks and
mitigate their effects”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978–0–19–989812–1 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–19–989810–7
(cloth : alk. paper)
I. Title. II. Series: What everyone needs to know.
[DNLM: 1. Pandemics—history. 2. Pandemics—prevention & control.
3. Disaster Planning. 4. World Health. WA 105]
RA399.5
362.1028’9—dc23
2013004528
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
The deviation of man from the state in which he was
originally placed by nature seems to have proved to him
a prolifi c source of diseases.
—Edward Jenner (1749–1823), pioneer of the smallpox vaccine,
sometimes called the “father of immunology”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
ABBREVIATIONS xv
INTRODUCTION xxi
1 Infection and Immunity 1
What is the difference between a virus and a bacterium? 2
What is the difference between RNA and DNA? 9
Aren’t viruses also much smaller than bacteria? 13
Why is it important to distinguish viruses from bacteria when
discussing pandemics? 15
Are colds and fl u caused by hundreds of viruses? 17
What exactly is a pathogen? 19
How does infection happen? 22
What is snot? 26
What is a horizontal infection? Is there another kind? 26
Are all virus and bacterial infections bad for us? 27
If there is a bacterial and protozoal “microbiome,” is there also a
“virome”? 28
What does “immunity” mean? 30
What are monoclonal antibodies? 37
viii Table of Contents
Would you describe mAbs as drugs or vaccines? 39
What are vaccines? 40
2 Pandemics, Epidemics, and Outbreaks 42
What is the exact defi nition of pandemic? 42
Who declares a pandemic? 43
Was the H1N1 “swine fl u” really so mild? 44
How does the WHO operate? 45
Should the pandemic classifi cation system be refi ned? 48
How does a pandemic differ from an epidemic or an outbreak? 49
Do all pandemics involve infection? 51
What does the term “zoonosis” mean? 52
What is an endemic infection, and how does it differ from an epidemic
infection? 54
Are plants also included in the world of pandemics? 55
In Summary 55
3 The SARS Warning 56
Why was SARS so scary? 56
How did SARS spread so quickly through hospitals? 57
What caused SARS and where did the pathogen come from? 59
Aside from “natural” reservoirs, are there other potential
sources of SARS? 61
What steps were taken to stop the SARS outbreak? 61
Did the SARS experience have long-term effects, and what lessons
were learned? 63
4 Tuberculosis and Infl uenza 66
Why should TB and infl uenza be considered together? 66
What is the current situation with TB? 66
Table of Contents ix
Is multi-drug-resistant TB still an issue? 68
What is being done to combat the MDR TB threat? 70
Why might infl uenza remain the most obvious known pandemic threat? 70
What are the different kinds of infl uenza viruses? 72
What is antigenic shift and why is it so dangerous? 74
Are birds and pigs our main concern when it comes to catching
the fl u? 78
What was so special about the virus that caused the 1918–1919
infl uenza pandemic? 79
Is our capacity to counter infl uenza improving? 82
Are we making progress with fl u vaccines? 83
Apart from vaccines, are there other products available
to prevent infection? 86
How afraid should we be of infl uenza? 88
5 Fledermaus to Field Mouse 90
What’s a fl edermaus? 90
Is it unusual that fruit bats carry SARS? 90
Are the henipaviruses potential pandemic pathogens? 93
Is Ebola the scariest of all viruses? 94
What exactly is a hemorrhagic disease? 96
Are fi loviruses the main cause of hemorrhagic fevers? 98
6 Virus Vectors 102
What is a vector? 102
What is WNV, and has it been around for very long? 103
WNV infects birds, horses, and humans—does it also multiply
in mosquitoes? 104
What exactly is yellow fever virus? 106
What do we know about the global movements of arboviruses? 109