Vaccine is far off and our rulers are hapless, so we can rely only on ourselves to survive, says top SA doctor
Around July 2019, barely a year ago, I found myself grappling with a set of problems. In my particular field of medical practice I was immersed with a threat that had been 80 years in the making.
Fast forward to 2012 and we had widespread reports of pan-drug-resistant bacteria plaguing ICUs, claiming lives and rendering all forms of medical and surgical therapy redundant. This was, by and large, driven by inappropriate antibiotic use in the healthcare setting and in the farming of livestock and crops. US Centers for Disease Control/Reuters
December 2019 had medical journals buzzing with an entirely new topic, a novel strain of coronavirus. Respiratory viral pathogens are a challenge for any doctor. The standard treatment is supportive as there is very little direct antiviral treatment. Influenza and varicella pneumonia can be treated with specific antiviral agents but for the most part nothing specific exists.This virus was different though, as it represented a crossing of species from pangolins and bats to humans.
Our coordinated response as a society thus relies on us working together. For the first time since the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, each member of society can contribute every day to the health of those around you and to those we have not even met. Wear masks properly, limit all close interactions and conduct them with the proper precautions. Lend your expertise and resources to the fight, and never commit the ultimate crime of exploiting the vulnerable.
Epidemiology projections by our local scientists and in collaboration with international teams predict our disease burden to be many times over than what we could ever cope with even if we had another year to prepare. There is perhaps little difference between first and third world health systems in this respect. Hospital capacity is exceeded before the peak of the first Covid wave is reached, no matter how well our infrastructure is prepared.
Our president, with his cabinet and Covid-19 command council now grapple with an economic meltdown, and trying to govern a country with soaring unemployment and an industrial sector treading vigorously to keep itself above water.
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