Rishi Guest Blogs: The Threat of Ceaseless Pandemics

This Guest Blog Post is from Rishi Menon, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

With today’s scientific and medical advancement, populations across the globe are steadily becoming less wary of airborne disease. After all, chances are you’ve already gotten the vaccine to fight it. While most are aware that different strains have varying levels of strength and resistance to drugs, the emergence of entirely drug-resistant diseases could send countries worldwide in national panic. This article, for instance, presents a dangerous situation in which widespread tuberculosis, one that is completely resilient to drugs, would be incurable. With the knowledge of the presence of such a disease strain, governments may feel encouraged enforce preventative action. This includes nationwide mandates for citizens to receive vaccinations, screening for possible disease infection, etc. Yet the emergence of an drug-resistant strain could also shake society’s confidence in the medical system – can our cutting-edge research keep up with the ever-growing diseases? Will we need to find a new way to eliminate disease within our populations? Vaccines are artificial immune systems that cannot pass down through posterity – can we find a more permanent solution to diseases? These are important questions still lingering.