Vaccines have all but eliminated some diseases that were once pandemics or epidemics like polio and smallpox. The power of vaccines to control infectious diseases cannot be underestimated, and can promote public health worldwide. However, new strains of existing diseases like influenza and potent viruses like HIV continue to plague researchers. Of the various epidemics and pandemics currently facing the international community, all are concerns but it is possible that influenza will become the gravest threat to humanity because of its continual mutations and changes.
The international research community needs to respond to influenza by more aggressive programs in vaccine development, designing new vaccines using methods like those described by Berkeley in his Ted talk. Every few years, a new type of infectious disease becomes a pandemic, according to Berkeley, and this means that the research community around the world must work tirelessly to target new expressions of the same diseases or new diseases. The latest method of developing vaccines has been through the use of e-coli strains, which provides a cheap and efficient method that is currently being used in Mexico and India because of the relatively low costs associated with it (Berkeley). It is important to shift to these types of mass production of vaccines in order to control infectious diseases like influenza...
On the one hand, globalization means massive migrations of populations, which can spread diseases that could have remained sequestered in specific geographic areas. Governments therefore need to remain cognizant of which diseases are emerging around the world and respond to those infectious diseases immediately through efforts at reducing contamination. One example was ebola, as it spread in West Africa and was contained via concerted government efforts around the world.
On the other hand, globalization means more effective responses to infectious diseases. Researchers from around the world collaborate with one another, sharing the results of their research. Similarly, public health officials from around the world can collect real-time data from field workers who are identifying infectious diseases and alerting public health authorities. Researchers specializing in vaccine development are also pooling their resources to develop new methods of mass-producing vaccines like the e-coli method Berkeley discusses in the Ted talk.
In the chapter "Infectious Disease and Globalization,"…
