The COVID-19 pandemic: SARS-CoV-2, childhood hepatitis and monkeypox raise five new questions for the global health research community

Unexpectedly, a completely new, unknown virus appeared, which managed to gather all the properties that make the epidemiologist's job of suppressing the spread very difficult: (1) it had a “time window” during which it could spread from the infected to the healthy before the infected developed symptoms; (2) it not only spread in cough-propelled droplets, but also by aerosol so that it could float imperceptibly in the air, where anyone could inhale it; (3) it spread atypically easily from person to person, so that in a short time it could lead to a huge number of infected people, which health systems could not cope with, and important areas of human activities would suddenly be left without a large number of workers; (4) the virus was not limited to humans, but rather spread easily to various animal species, gaining additional opportunities for mutations; then, it could be reintroduced to humans, having acquired new mutations of insufficiently known effect; (5) it was an RNA virus, not a DNA virus; therefore, its mutation repair mechanisms were weaker and new strains were formed faster. Even the current vaccines only prevent clinical infection and transmission to a varying degree, although they do protect from more severe outcomes much better. [...]the absolute global research priority is the development of an advanced vaccine, which will protect us against all possible strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. [...]it would be ideal if such a vaccine could be administered simply, eg, by nasal inhalation, and boost longer-lasting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to the current vaccines. [...]a vaccine is developed, any new antiviral drug, such as Paxlovid, will also be of great help [7]. [...]despite the current respite, the work for the research community to ensure control over the COVID-19 pandemic is still not complete.