NIMELSSA SCOPE

PHOTO BY MISAEL COVARRUBIAS "Thousands of more people died today", "Hunger virus is deadlier than Corona virus", "no vaccine has been found?", "the hospital is shut down for decontamination",  "new deaths recorded "The global economy might be heading into a depression", "my life is ruined", "inject yourself with bleach", "wear masks", "leave the masks for health workers", "what's the next bad news?", "Switch off the damn TV"...

There are so many stories surrounding the cause of the ongoing deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Some have claimed that the virus emerged from the Wuhan seafood market through a zoonotic interaction between animals that are carriers of these viruses and human beings. Secondly, there is also the ‘Lab Release’ theory which suggests that COVID-19 intended as a weapon for use in biological warfare originated in a laboratory in the same Chinese City of Wuhan.

‘The world is going molecular’ Dr. Nwakorie’s favorite quote, one can’t count how many times she emphasizes this obvious yet obscure point in her microbiology class or whenever she has the opportunity to scold or lecture us (in reality whenever we see her!) and she has a point. A huge one at that. What does the phrase ‘going molecular’ mean for medical laboratory science as a profession? Keyword – molecular diagnostics.

Plagues and Epidemics have ravaged humanity throughout its existence, often changing the course of history. Pandemics have occurred throughout history and appear to be increasing, from Prehistoric Epidemics to Historic Epidemics, Plagues, Flus, Polios, AIDS, Ebola virus to the new novel Corona virus the world is experiencing now. The outbreaks of these infectious diseases have greatly increased morbidity and mortality rate across the world and have caused significant economic, social and political disruption. Has something happened to facilitate these epidemics which seem to be occurring more frequently? Evidence suggests that the likelihood of Pandemics has increased over the past century because of increased global travel and integration, urbanization, changes in land use, and greater exploitation of the natural environment (Jones and others 2008; Morse 1995).

One- four morrows, soon the earth will be courted, Like worm and body, The wedding will be grazed with dust. There’s sunshine in this darkness, Lack of mirth, And presence of thirst.