Technology could lead to the eradication of multiple illnesses
There are so many small illnesses that we get and don’t really think about, like the common cold. However, scientists are constantly working to overcome many of these, and there is fantastic development in several areas. Here are three common illnesses that we could see eradicated by the end of the 21st century, as we saw with smallpox in the 20th.
Guinea Worm
Guinea worm is a particularly nasty parasitic infection that affects many people and often children throughout Africa and Asia. The parasite’s name is dracunculiasis and this translates from Latin as “affliction with little dragons”.
It is spread through dirty drinking water and it targets the muscles and tissue in the leg, particularly around the knee and foot. In the case of growing children, this means that they can be left unable to walk. However, things are changing. In 1986, there were 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm worldwide. Thanks to the constant efforts to bring clean drinking water to many, cases have dropped rapidly to the point where there were only 3 in the entire world in 2017. This could make Guinea worm the second disease to be eradicated, after smallpox was in 1977.
Corneal Blindness
Corneal blindness affects approximately 5% of the blind population but it is rampant in areas where the standard of living and access to medical care can be quite low. It is frequently caused by bacterial infections or eye trauma, but it can be treated with a corneal transplant.
With more and more people donating these with other organs, these transplants are slowly becoming more accessible. Figures like Tej Kohli have dedicated themselves to helping those who could not afford a transplant on their own receive the treatment they need. Thanks to their efforts, we could see corneal blindness eradicated by 2035.
Polio
Polio is a devastating disease that has no cure. While most people who do catch it will recover, there are approximately 1% of patients who are left with permanent disabilities from the infection. It eats away at the nerves along our spinal columns and it can cause major paralysis. In about 5 to 10% of these cases, the muscles that control our breathing can also be paralysed, causing us to stop breathing.
Luckily, a successful vaccine has been developed that has been rolled out amongst many countries. It is often included as a childhood inoculation along with tetanus and diphtheria, and this has helped to protect people from childhood into adults. There are three strains of the virus, one of which has been eradicated already and another that has not caused an outbreak since 2012. This means that we are in a great position to fully eradicate this virus soon.
These are just three of the many illnesses that we could see eradicated by the end of the century. New developments are made all the time that will see us move forward into a new happier and much healthier era of humanity.