CAUSES OF PANDEMICS AND STAGE OF VACCINE RESEARCH AGAINST THE NEW CORONAVIRUS

Fernando Alcoforado*

This article aims to show how to prevent new pandemics based on the opinion of experts and the stage of research aimed at the development of vaccines to immunize the population against the new Coronavirus based on information on the progress of research on vaccines essential to combat Covid 19. As will be presented in the following paragraphs, humanity will have to make profound changes in its relationship with nature to prevent new pandemics from occurring that threaten its very existence and invest heavily in R&D aimed at developing vaccines to face up to current and new viruses.

Article Mais destruição da natureza, mais pandemias (More destruction of nature, more pandemics), published on the website <https://climainfo.org.br/2020/03/19/mais-destruicao-da-natureza-mais-pandemias/&gt;, informs that the destruction of biodiversity promoted by humanity can create the conditions for the emergence of new viruses with unprecedented transmission power and lethality. Human beings have always lived with pathogens from nature, some beneficial, others mortal. A few were as deadly as the Bubonic Plague and the Spanish Flu. This situation is repeated with the pandemic of the new Coronavirus. In this article, it is also reported that a 2008 survey identified 335 new diseases that emerged between 1960 and 2004, of which 60% came from animals.

David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, wrote in The New York Times that man invades tropical forests and other wild environments, which harbor various species of plants and animals, and within these creatures there are numerous unknown viruses. By cutting trees, killing animals or caging them and sending them to markets, man destroys ecosystems and spreads viruses from their natural hosts. When this happens, viruses need a new host that is often man himself.

Article Parem de destruir a natureza ou teremos pandemias piores, alerta grupo de cientistas (Stop destroying nature or we will have worse pandemics, warns group of scientists), published on the website <https://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/coronavirus/parem-de-destruir-natureza-ou-teremos-pandemias-piores-alerta-grupo-de-cientistas-24398235&gt;, signed by professors Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio, who led the most comprehensive study on “planetary health” ever, reports that “there is a single species responsible for the Covid- 19 pandemic: us ”. And, if the destruction of nature does not end, it is likely that even more deadly and destructive diseases will hit humanity in the future, more quickly and more frequently. The warning comes from the world’s leading biodiversity experts. The researchers said that “rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive agriculture, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation of wild species” created what they called a “perfect storm” for the spread of disease.

In the article by Erick Gimenes Ação humana contra o meio ambiente causou a pandemia do coronavírus, diz pesquisador (Human action against the environment caused the coronavirus pandemic, says a researcher), published on the website <https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2020/03/18/acao-humana-contra-o-meio-ambiente-causou-a-pandemia-do-coronavirus-diz-pesquisador&gt;, Allan Carlos Pscheidt, doctor in Plant Biodiversity and Environment and professor at the Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas, in São Paulo, says that the destruction of habitats of other animals will make epidemics more and more common. The new Coronavirus has spread across the world thanks to the destructive and invasive action of human beings against nature. The organism that causes Covid-19 has long been in the environment, probably housed in bats native to untouched caves, according to the professor. With the increasing urbanization and consequent human invasion, however, the virus broke its natural cycle and reached other beings, such as man, whose organism is not yet prepared to fight it.

According to the researcher Allan Carlos Pscheidt, the pandemic of the new Coronavirus leaves clear lessons: we urgently need to worry about unbridled consumption, the recurrent destruction of the planet and climate change. The spread of the new Coronavirus is a direct result of this. Pscheidt warns that, in an interconnected world like the one we live in today, viral epidemics must become increasingly common. For him, if we do not evolve into a more conscious and less selfish society, humanity will be decimated by new pandemics. As long as it does not protect nature to prevent new pandemics, humanity will have to produce vaccines that will make it possible to immunize the entire population from current and new viruses, given that they are fundamental for combating diseases.

Throughout history, vaccines have helped to significantly reduce the incidence of polio, measles and tetanus, among many other diseases. Today, vaccines are considered the most cost-effective treatment in public health. The reality now is that the world needs a vaccine against the new Coronavirus that causes covid-19. It will probably not be ready in the next few months. Maybe this will only happen in 12 or 18 months. There is currently a race to develop vaccines. Ewen Callaway’s article The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide, published on the website <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01221-y&gt;, presents several ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

More than 90 vaccines are being developed against SARS-CoV-2 by research teams at companies and universities around the world. The researchers are testing different technologies, some of which have never been used in a licensed vaccine before. At least six groups have already started to inject formulations into volunteers in safety tests; others started testing on animals.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: a variety of approaches

All vaccines aim to expose the body to an antigen that does not cause disease, but will elicit an immune response that can block or kill the virus if a person becomes infected. There are at least eight types being tested against the coronavirus, and they depend on different viruses or viral parts.

Virus vaccines

At least seven teams are developing vaccines using the virus itself, weakened or inactivated. Many existing vaccines are made this way, such as against measles and polio, but require extensive safety testing. Sinovac Biotech in Beijing has started testing an inactivated version of SARS-CoV-2 in humans.

Viral vector vaccines

About 25 groups say they are working on viral vector vaccines. A virus like measles or adenovirus is genetically modified to produce coronavirus proteins in the body. These viruses are weakened and cannot cause disease. There are two types: those that can still replicate within cells and those that cannot because the main genes have been disabled.

Nucleic acid vaccines

At least 20 teams aim to use genetic instructions (in the form of DNA or RNA) for a coronavirus protein that prompts an immune response. The nucleic acid is inserted into human cells, which produce copies of the virus protein; most of these vaccines encode the virus’ peak protein.

Protein-based vaccines

Many researchers want to inject coronavirus proteins directly into the body. Protein fragments or protein shells that mimic the outer layer of the coronavirus can also be used.

Industry trials

More than 70% of the groups that lead vaccine research efforts are from industrial or private companies. Clinical trials begin with small safety studies in animals and people, followed by much larger studies to determine whether a vaccine generates an immune response. The researchers are accelerating these steps and hope to have a vaccine ready in 18 months.

It appears from the above that there is an urgent need to adopt measures to protect forests and combat the exploitation of wild species to prevent new pandemics and the development and production of vaccines capable of immunizing the population of the new Coronavirus is urgent. In the absence of a vaccine to protect the population, there is, at the moment, no alternative but social distancing. It is, therefore, demonstrated that humanity will have to make profound changes in its relationship with nature to prevent new pandemics that threaten its very existence from happening and to invest heavily in R&D aimed at the development of vaccines to face current and new viruses.

* Fernando Alcoforado, 80, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic  planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017),  Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).