Leveraging Innovative Vaccines in Conquering Emerging Infectious Diseases

Emerging Infectious Diseases: What Are They?

Health is viewed as the outcome of a balance between a number of elements that affect the interface between humans, animals, and the environment. Whereas disease results from an unbalanced interface on which human activities are vital. Multiple connections have been proposed as the cause of illness emergence from the earliest civilizations to the present date (Zinsstag, 2023).

Emerging diseases are those that first occur in a population or that may have existed earlier but are quickly expanding in frequency or geographical coverage (WHO, 2023). Meanwhile, remerging diseases are often regarded as new infections caused by an unknown or novel pathogen to a different geographic region (Kubra, 2022; Umar, 2022).

Significance of Emerging Infectious Diseases on Global Health

We envisage a world where people, animals, and the environment are acknowledged as interconnected and where multidisciplinary, systems-thinking methods and integrated approaches are universally used to understand, preserve, and enhance the health of all living things (Zinsstag, 2023). Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), including coronavirus outbreaks like SARS and COVID-19, are a growing problem for humans, wildlife, and domesticated species, with 75% being zoonotic, including Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and Lyme disease (Farahat, 2022; Kadir, 2023). The solution to the international threat posed by these diseases is well-coordinated global monitoring and response (WHO, 2023).

Role of Innovative Vaccine in Emerging Infectious Diseases Control

For the majority of emerging infectious diseases, prevention is preferable to cure. Vaccination has been a widely used and well-established mitigation strategy for many DNA viruses, including chicken pox and smallpox. Vaccination remains difficult for most RNA viruses, including Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza, due to their higher mutation rates (Wu et al., 2017).

Milestones in Vaccination and Their Impact on Diseases Control

Vaccination is a medical marvel that has transformed the course of human history. The term vaccination was first described by Edward Jenner in18th century, but study of inoculation practices was started more than 500yrs ago. Throughout centuries vaccine have played a pivotal role in safeguarding public health, preventing deadly diseases, reduced disabilities, mortality and the morbidity rates worldwide, also reduced health care costs. Over the years, scientists and healthcare professionals have achieved remarkable milestones in vaccine development that have significantly shaped the landscape of diseases control. The impact of vaccination in disease control has served humanity from eradication of smallpox to ongoing battle against COVID-19 (Shao, 2022). Moreover, vaccine have been instrumental in achieving herd immunity, where a large proportion of population is immunized, protecting those who cannot receive vaccines due to medical reasons. We will explore some key milestones in the history of vaccine and their impact on diseases control (Saleh et al., 2021).