By: John C. Lesher
Two and a half weeks ago I wrote a blog in which I speculated that coronavirus-19 had infected thousands in the NY metropolitan area weeks, or even months, before it was correctly identified. I suggested that those who “had the flu” this past winter volunteer to be tested for coronavirus antibodies. The antibodies, if I am right, will be found and could be used to develop a vaccine. I also expressed my belief that the medical, economic and social pressures we are experiencing will only disappear when some reputable research facility announces the development of a vaccine that can be produced quickly and in volume.
Last week two newspaper articles I read noted that hospitals in the US were requesting recovered coronavirus patients to give their blood so that their plasma could be used as a treatment for the seriously infected. That fact leads me to expanded thinking on the topic of a vaccine.
As I understand it, the virus known as “19” (because it was discovered last year) is one of a family of viruses that evolve and mutate regularly and with astonishing speed. If so, then 19 might be the first wave of a potential series of viral pandemics. I am not a Chicken Little warning you that the sky is falling after being struck by an acorn from above, nor do I wish to be a Cassandra, accurate in prophecy, but dismissed as a raving crank. I regard myself as pragmatic and believe we must take a cold and clinical view of what this pandemic teaches us.
Our only true defense is one that is active: that means a vaccine. Everything else is reactive and catch-up. If this virus returns next winter, and we do not have a vaccine in place, our experience this season means we will have the needed ventilators and masks in abundance, as well as a population that has some degree of resistance. This will mitigate our needs, but is no substitute for an effective vaccination program. But what if coronavirus-19 doesn’t return as-is and takes a mutated form? Let’s call it coronavirus-20. What then? Will any vaccine currently being developed as a defense against 19 be a protection against 20?
The Congress has just voted a 2.2 trillion dollar financial package to assist the millions who are adversely affected by the mandated shutdowns of our economy. All well and good—I fully support this emergency response by government. However, one element of that package needs a major re-thinking. It doesn’t go anywhere close to funding the long-term anti-disease needs of America. I stress the words “long-term.” This assault by pathogens isn’t going away.
I fear we are in a new age where the power of military weapons is dwarfed by the mega-trillions of life forms called viruses that we can’t see, feel or communicate with. Excuse the cliché, but we need a new Manhattan project to research and develop defenses against these invisible enemies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must be expanded massively, with co-operative ventures entered into between the federal government and the highly regarded, already staffed and equipped university hospitals and research labs that are common in the United States. This domestic co-operation also could be international—perhaps a NATO-type alliance for peaceful research into these diseases. The obvious Holy Grail would be a family of vaccines effective against whatever Mother Nature chooses to throw at us in coming years. Talk is cheap and time is short—let’s get going!