Sooner or later it will happen that Covid-19 will become a seasonal disease, for some a disease like the flu. Or, like hepatitis C or pneumonia. However, researchers agree: it will become an endemic virus. But when will this Sars-CoV-2 endemization process begin? It revolves around this question, the cover story of the new issue of Salute the magazine on newsstands on December 30th with Repubblica, la Stampa and the newspapers of the Gedi Group. Elisa Manacorda and Daniele Banfi sign a long investigation to find out where the research on Covid-19 is and understand what the future scenarios are. That is, when the virus will be an integral part of our lives without producing violent impacts on everyday life, on affections, on the economy.
Covid: so it changed us forever
by Daniela Minerva
And if the worldwide slogan is to “plan the emergency”, perhaps we have already made a mistake and it concerns the vaccination campaign against the flu, which has remained confined to doctors’ surgeries and pharmacies. Letizia Gabaglio recalls the circular of 2 October last in which the Ministry of Health called for the joint administration of the two vaccines, Covid and the flu to broaden the coverage of immunization in view of the peak of seasonal illness expected between the end of January and February. But only a small fraction of people have received both vaccines and now we speak of a “missed opportunity” as the pandemic has taught us that time cannot be wasted when it comes to dealing with viruses. Especially for the most fragile patients.
Covid, the order in which the symptoms appear may depend on the variants
by Cinzia Lucchelli
Focus on Salute still on research. This time the central insert is dedicated to genome editing, that is an operation through which a DNA sequence can be modified and corrected. The technique most used and which is creating great hopes for the treatment of genetic diseases is Crispr / Cas9. The latter is a protein which, like scissors, is able to “cut” the DNA in one point, but which needs a compass to direct it to the chosen target. Anna Lisa Bonfranceschi accompanies us in laboratories all over the world where researchers are achieving surprising results. As in the case of the Crispr-based technique which opens up new scenarios for sickle cell anemia and thalassemia.
Covid: let’s think about preventing the next pandemic
by Maurizio Ferri
The section that we dedicate to the characters with two interviews is a tribute to health workers and to the way in which they are conducting their work with great humanity. Donatella Zorzetto met Katia Sandroni the nurse of the Intensive Care Department of the Salesi hospital in Ancona, taken up last March by a colleague while lying down, cuddling Matteo, a 7-month-old baby hospitalized for Covid. His photo has become a symbol and has traveled the world as a testimony to the work done by doctors and nurses struggling with the pandemic.
Alberto Mantovani: “Against viruses we are like climbers with stones in backpacks”
by Letizia Gabaglio
As he also tells Giacomo Porretti actor of the historic comic trio with Aldo Baglio and Giovanni Storti who before his life on the set, worked as a nurse for 11 years at the Legnano hospital. “When I saw the images of health workers tired from fatigue, like the famous photo of the nurse who fell asleep on the computer keyboard, I thought back to the many night shifts I lived with my colleagues. It is impossible for those who work in the ward not to be involved in the stories of the patients, their suffering “.
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