Prompt 9: Eradication versus control

 Eradication should be the goal when it is financially and biologically feasible.  For example, smallpox could be eradicated because there was no other reservoir for the disease to live. If a virus had another reservoir, like commonly lived in bats, eradication would be impossible.  Humans would have to eliminate the bat population and not transmit the virus among themselves to eradicate the virus. In the case of smallpox, there was no other reservoir other than humans, so the main obstacle was ending human-to-human transmission. A vaccine was available, and the national community decided to dedicate its resources.  The smallpox vaccine initiative was also financially feasible.  

I think the control approach should be the first response for global health. Suppose health officials can support communities to alleviate most of the adverse side effects of the disease. In that case, I do not think eradication is needed. Take cancer as an example: cancer will most likely not be eradicated soon, but significant strides have been made in treating this disease. My younger brother was diagnosed with a stage two Wilm's tumor at 8 months old. He had a tumor the size of a cantaloupe surrounding his kidney, and if he had been born before the 1990s, his diagnosis would have been a death sentence. Instead, he went into surgery to remove the tumor and underwent 9 months of chemotherapy. The chemo made him sick, but chemo can have few side effects since then.  Suppose chemotherapy can continue to advance, possibly small pills with little to no major effects. In that case, a cancer diagnosis could be like strep throat. 

In COVID, I think a control approach to the pandemic is more realistic. We have already seen the SARs virus mutate into different variants. We are unsure how many reservoirs the virus would live in.  For now, masks should be worn in highly populated areas, and individuals should be vaccinated when they can be.  These approaches may seem like they are attempting eradication, but both methods are not 100% capable of stopping viral transmission. Eventually, eradication may be possible if a more effective vaccine is available and more individuals receive it. Still, for now, the control approach is most appropriate.