Thread by @elisaperego78

I've just seen another verified Twitter account saying we can't keep viruses "at bay forever".
Yet, yes! key research and public health have literally worked towards keeping dangerous pathogens "at bay forever".
Let's see some examples based on the scientific evidence!

🧵

Smallpox

"thanks to .. vaccination, the last natural outbreak of smallpox in the US occurred in 1949. In 1980, the World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated (eliminated), and no cases of naturally occurring smallpox have happened since"

CDC

cdc.gov/smallpox/index….

Eradication of the poliovirus, which causes the disease poliomyelitis, has been almost achieved. There have been delays in some areas, also in relation to the covid pandemic. The WHO and other organisations remain committed to eradication

emro.who.int/polio-eradicat…

Measles is another disease which has been considered as a candidate for eradication for decades. The disease had been successfully eliminated in some countries, and contained in many. Drops in vaccination rates in recent years led to some resurgence

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

"Today, every region in the world has a measles elimination goal, achieved in the Americas until 2018 and nearing achievement in at least three additional regions." (CDC, attached).

Measles is considered for elimination alongside Rubella

cdc.gov/globalhealth/m….

Chickenpox, the effects of which were once poorly appreciated, is increasingly contaminated via vaccination

"Varicella vaccine has been in the market since 1995 .. new studies show that it has nearly wiped out deaths from chickenpox in the US."

medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231679

Cholera:

"Cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, is very rare in the U.S. Cholera was common domestically in the 1800s but water-related spread has been eliminated by modern water and sewage treatment systems." (CDC)

cdc.gov/cholera/usa/in…

While there are occasionally outbreaks of cholera in the US, the CDC has implemented a surveillance system for such outbreaks, called COVIS | above

The WHO has launched the Ending Cholera program, a global roadmap to reduce deaths massively by 2030

who.int/news-room/fact….

Tuberculosis:

Many countries and health bodies have implemented strategies to eliminate or drastically reduce tuberculosis frequency

The End TB Strategy was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2014, with the aim to end the global TB epidemic 

who.int/teams/global-t…

Mumps:

The eradication of mumps was already discussed in the top medical journal @NEJM in 1967 | below

Mumps can be a relatively mild childhood disease, but long-term sequelae aren't unknown and can be dangerous

nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

"Prior to the vaccine development in 1967, over 186,000 people got the mumps every year in the United States. After the introduction of the vaccine there was nearly a 99 percent decrease in cases of mumps."

Mumps remains to be eradicated. Resurgence is noted, but control stays!

Syphilis

It's is a bacterial infection usually spread by sexual contact. It can have deleterious effects on multiple levels. Plans for the containment and eradication syphilis has been put forward.

There have been concerns about a recent resurgence

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Gonorrhea (clap):

It's an infection caused by a sexually transmitted bacterium that affects both males and females. Eradication of gonorrhea has been discussed, for example in this 1994 BMJ article.

We don't Live with Gonorrhea!

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Ebola:

Containment/eradication have been discussed by policy makers

"We are glad to hear that the World Health Organization (WHO) has conducted an emergency meeting to establish new control centres to contain the spread of Ebola in West Africa"

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV)

Eradication has been considered by WHO

"one way to achieve this is through very high levels of vaccine coverage that could enable global eradication of vaccine-type HPV"

The Director General of the WHO has called for eradication of the cancer-causing HPV virus through a global strategy via vaccination

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Thanks @SithElephant for sharing this one!

Meningitis:

the WHO has implemented a strategy to defeating meningitis by 2030, a condition that might leave 1 in 5 affected with long-term sequelae

who.int/initiatives/de…

Pertussis also known as whooping cough:

An-often pediatric bacterial disease, which can be severe, it has been put forward for eradication, too

Pertussis can be associated with mortality and high morbidity, especially in the lung and respiratory tract

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19280847/

SARS:

The disease caused by the virus most similar to SARS-CoV-2 was stopped in the early 2000s before it could go pandemic

"How a Global Epidemic was Stopped" @WHO bullettin

The disease left many ill for years or to this day: #longSARS

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

"In 2003, WHO responded to an outbreak of new infectious disease that caused tremendous social, political and economic disruptions in many countries across the world: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)."

"The international health organization [WHO] played a key leadership role in combating the spread of this disease [SARS] and forged an exceptional global response to this first global outbreak of the century."

What a difference with today!

Rinderpest:

This is a disease affecting only animals. But the 2nd disease after smallpox to be officially eradicated!

"Rinderpest, also known as cattle plague, was a disease caused by the rinderpest virus which primarily infected cattle and buffalo"

ourworldindata.org/how-rinderpest…

Cancer induced EBV:

According to Cancer Grand Challenges

"Each year 200,000 cancers worldwide are caused by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). We want to find a way to reduce that figure to zero."

We know EBV is also linked to mononucleosis, MS, and ME/CFS!

cancergrandchallenges.org/challenges/era…

Hepatitis B:

A challenge: "hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes important human health problems. It has infected one-third of the world's population and approximately 360 million people are chronic carriers" [in 2010]

Yet considered for eradication!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20136972/#:~:t….

In 2019

"The spread of hepatitis B virus infection .. recently decreased in several countries due to the universal HBV vaccination of new-born babies and to the extended use of HBV nucleos(t)ide analogues with high genetic barrier to viral resistance."

wjgnet.com/2220-3176/full…

Influenza B/Yamagata lineage:

The pandemic saw a global reduction in influenza cases of both A/B viruses. In particular, the B/Yamagata lineage has not been isolated from April 2020 to August 2021, suggesting that this lineage may have become extinct.

nature.com/articles/s4157…

This suspected extinction of a B flu strain could provide a way to eliminate infection with influenza B virus (IBV)

.. no animal reservoir and "high vaccination coverage that induces broad immune protection provides a potential pathway to eradication of IBV."

Tetanus:

The causative agent, Clostridium tetani, is common in the environment and cannot be eradicated. Yet, massive reduction in the number of cases of tetanus, the *disease*, can be achieved via prevention using vaccination and post-exposure care

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

"The global neonatal tetanus elimination goal was launched at the World Health Assembly in 1989 to reduce neonatal tetanus as a public health problem (defined as less than 1 case of neonatal tetanus per 1000 live births per district) in all countries"

who.int/news-room/fact…

"The Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE) Initiative was launched by UNICEF, WHO and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 1999, revitalizing the goal of MNTE as a public health problem."

In 2018, 14 countries still have to achieve MNTE

Diphtheria

Since the 1980s authorities have managed to almost completely eradicate diphtheria by systematically vaccinating with combined vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, polio

Worries remain for outbreaks in harsh conditions like refugee camps

dw.com/en/diphtheria-…