The next biothreat is inevitable, and the absence of policies to combat it will lead to disaster.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized public health infrastructure in the United States. Health care expenditures have grown at a record-high rate, the development of vaccinations has been streamlined, and the federal government has enacted several policies aimed to support pandemic preparedness through disease surveillance and medical education. This strengthened infrastructure has enabled our nation to combat COVID-19, maintaining low levels of spread and reducing mortality rates considerably. Our success in this battle has prompted public health experts to announce the approaching end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with public exhaustion of pandemic life, however, such announcements may lead to a diminishing of the significant health infrastructure and pandemic preparedness improvements made in the past several years.
This comes at a particularly dangerous time. WHO public health officials have recently hypothesized that a novel adenovirus may have caused over 450 worldwide cases of acute severe hepatitis of unknown origin. Pediatric populations have been especially vulnerable, and infected individuals have presented with severe gastrointestinal symptoms and acute hepatitis. The possible emergence of this novel adenovirus must signal to our nation that we must not just maintain our strengthened health infrastructure but in fact improve it further. The next biothreat is inevitable, and the absence of policies to combat it will lead to disaster.
As such, we write to urge public health systems to continue funding for the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Health facilities must be prepared to rapidly roll out diagnostic devices to the public in preparation for the spread of an adenovirus. Additionally, no approved antiviral therapies specific to adenovirus infection exist, and there is no existing adenovirus vaccine available to the general public. Given the possible emergence of this novel biothreat, funding for vaccine research and development must be enhanced to enable a streamlined development of therapeutics and vaccines.
Furthermore, we argue for enhanced data infrastructure for disease surveillance. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, US states have used different approaches to track new cases and deaths, complicating efforts to monitor the virus. These errors demonstrate the need for integrated, real-time data on infections, hospitalizations, deaths, and immunizations in preparation for future biothreats.
Additionally, our nation must implement domestic pandemic-response workforces. With hospitals reaching full capacity and health care workers being exhausted through the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for out-of-hospital health professionals trained in pandemic response is clear. We argue that EMTs and paramedics must be trained in adenovirus-response protocols and be enabled to provide more extensive treatments to patients outside the hospital.
Finally, we must combat misinformation and maintain consistent messaging across public health agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that political leaders are significant drivers of public attitudes toward pandemics. These leaders must be advised by health care experts and be held accountable for presenting only accurate, consistent health information to the American public.
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