With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic South African citizens suddenly learnt new concepts such as social distancing and flattening the curve. The people that are getting us through this new experience specialise in fields that we have previously never even thought of or whose importance we had not previously considered – particularly as parents who are guiding children as they go on the journey of choosing their career path.
According to the CDC epidemiologists are those people that,” When disease outbreaks or other threats emerge, epidemiologists are on the scene to investigate. Often called “Disease Detectives”, epidemiologists search for the cause of disease, identify people who are at risk, determine how to control or stop the spread or prevent it from happening again. Physicians, veterinarians, scientists, and other health professionals often train to be “Disease Detectives”.
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These professionals as the name suggest work in labs but may possibly be looking at different focus areas. Some are testing the samples that come being collected from the mass testing happening in communities wile others are actually studying the disease itself. A laboratorian is defined as one who works in a laboratory, chiefly as an aid in the diagnosis, treatment and control of disease. According to the Washing Post, “While tracking the spread of the coronavirus from the field is critical, “it’s the scientific work in these laboratories that may lead the way to a therapy or vaccine that could help save lives and fight this outbreak — or the next one. Studying the virus is the first step toward discovering ways to stop it: by testing potential drugs, developing animal versions of the disease and probing fundamental questions about how it makes people sick.”
These professionals are the cornerstone of the modelling that’s helping world leaders make decisions for their countries. These models paint the scenarios of how the virus will play out. For example Ira Longini is a biostatician that is an advisor to the World health organisation (WHO) made the news for his prediction of the coronavirus outbreak is that two-thirds of the global population may eventually contract COVID-19. He based his modeling on data showing that each infected person normally transmits the disease to two to three other people
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