4 infectious diseases that should not be forgotten during COVID-19

While the world is waiting for lockdowns to end and for life to return to something like normal, the global health community is working to rein in the novel coronavirus. It is, of course, vital work. But does the current focus on COVID-19 risk pushing aside other health crises in the minds of the public? As of late May, COVID-19 has caused over 346,000 deaths, and there have been approaching 5.5 million confirmed cases. The economic ramifications have been huge. But when the world eventually moves past this crisis, some experts predict coronavirus will not simply go away – rather, they say it could become endemic with seasonal outbreaks. This would mean the new disease would join the ranks of influenza and other, more deadly, pathogens that have been around for much longer. While we’ve eradicated smallpox and are close to doing so with polio, some of these pathogens are proving more challenging...