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EBOLA
Lesson 2: Double-Down on Basic Science
As one who studies deadly viruses, Andrew Pekosz believes in knowing the foe well before an epidemic begins. It’s best to focus on research during the lulls between outbreaks, not amid them, he says. Unfortunately, with Ebola, out of sight was out of mind—a costly and avoidable mistake. “It is precisely when Ebola is in hiding that we need to double-down on basic science,” he says. “When we wait for outbreaks, it’s too late for research to reveal what fuels, and what stops, these killer diseases.”
Pekosz would pour resources into studying the virus’s biology, its sensitivities to antiviral drugs, how antibodies might neutralize it, and how the virus might mutate to ignite some future epidemic.
“We need to focus on the long term,” he says. “It’s far better to spend money in the lab and avoid having to treat the sick in the field.”
** Andrew Pekosz (http://jhsph.us3.list-
, PhD, is an associate professor of ** Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (http://jhsph.us3.list-
at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Editor’s Note: This week we’re highlighting five lessons about Ebola from the new issue of ** Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.
. Read the ** complete story by Andrew Myers (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.
.
Related: WHO Ebola Update – ** H5N1 (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.
Related: 56 Million US Dollars Needed to Provide Services in Ebola-affected Countries to Avoid Maternal Death Toll of Civil Wars Years – ** UN Population Fund via ReliefWeb (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.
Related: Liberia: Back to School With Strict Anti-Ebola Hygiene – ** AllAfrica (http://jhsph.us3.list-manage.
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