Emerging Disease and the Epidemiology Triangle

Emerging Disease and the Epidemiology Triangle

The COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of fatalities, profoundly affected humanity. The illness was correctly identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has since quickly spread throughout the populace, necessitating lockdowns, travel bans, and a wide range of significant public health measures (Ciotti et al., 2020) when infected individual coughs, talks, or sneezes, respiratory droplets from the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the source of COVID-19) are mostly spread.

Epidemiology Triangle of COVID-19:

The epidemiology triangle of COVID-19 consists of three factors: the host, the agent, and the environment. The host refers to the human infected with the virus, the agent is the virus itself. Finally, the environment includes the physical and social factors that contribute to the spread of the virus.

The host component of the epidemiology triangle refers to the organism or individual that becomes infected with the disease. In the case of COVID-19, the host is human. COVID-19 is highly contagious and can spread through respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks (Ciotti et al., 2020). Transmission can also occur through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. Although the illness can strike anybody, some groups are more susceptible to severe illness or even death, such as the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and those with underlying medical issues. The infective agent that causes the disease is called the agent component. A group of viruses known as coronaviruses are responsible for respiratory illnesses in humans and animals. SARS-CoV-2 is highly infective and can cause terrible respiratory illness, including pneumonia, incisive respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and death. It is difficult to develop effective treatments and vaccines because the virus has a high mutation rate, which enables it to adapt and evade the human immune response. The SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads exceptionally quickly due to its high rate of transmission. Since the virus can spread even among those who show no symptoms, it is challenging to stop its growth.