Infectious Diseases
BIO212 MOD-2 example assignment
Example Student
Disease: COVID-19
· Why did you choose this disease?
I selected this disease because it has had a major impact on the people of the world during 2020. This danger continues to this day as we deal with the fallout of the pandemic. I have had family and friends who became extremely ill but thankfully, no one died. Understanding how a virus like COVID-19 works and how it can infect the human body is important to my pursuit of a health care career. I hope to achieve a better understanding of what we can do as a society and as individuals to avoid a repeat pandemic such as this.
· Why do you think is an important disease we should all know more about?
The US has experienced at least 600,000 deaths from COVID-19. The world has had over 3,889,723 confirmed deaths and many more suspected since the pandemic began. (WHO dashboard, 2021) The speed with which the disease spread and our inability to stop this have surprised many scientists and healthcare professionals. We need to be better prepared for the next disease that will inevitably come. Learning from your mistakes with COVID-19 will make us better prepared and save the lives of millions worldwide.
· What is the microbe that causes this disease and what have you already learned about it? (briefly!)
COVID-19 is a member of the SARS-MERS family of viruses. Related viruses have been found infecting many different species of animals. The infection of COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease. (Hadler, 2020) This means it was mutated in a way that allowed it to infect humans instead of the animals it came from. Scientists think it came from bats and transferred to hogs and other farm animals that have close contact with humans. The research is not complete to clearly identify in which species the virus first appeared.
· What are two significant questions you hope to answer in researching this disease?
1. I believe my research can highlight the causes of the rapid spread of the disease.
2. My research should also shine a light on how we can be better prepared to fight the next pandemic.
References
Haider N, Rothman-Ostrow P, Osman AY, et al. COVID-19-Zoonosis or Emerging Infectious Disease?. Front Public Health. 2020;8:596944. Published 2020 Nov 26. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.596944
World Health Organization, Health Emergency Dashboard, (2021). https://covid19.who.int/
