[
    {
        "id": "osp-2394",
        "type": "article-journal",
        "title": "Does it Take Two to Tango? Coming to Grips with COVID-19: A Story of the Guest and the Host",
        "author": [
            {
                "family": "Al-Adawi",
                "given": "Samir"
            }
        ],
        "URL": "https://omanscience.com/en/articles/does-it-take-two-to-tango-coming-to-grips-with-covid-19-a-story-of-the-guest-and-the-host",
        "language": "en",
        "issued": {
            "date-parts": [
                [
                    2021
                ]
            ]
        },
        "container-title": "Oman Medical Journal",
        "DOI": "10.5001/omj.2021.130",
        "publisher": "Oman Medical Specialty Board",
        "ISSN": "1999-768X",
        "abstract": "The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been labeled a “once-in-a-century” pandemic. While various mechanisms have been implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19, history will remember this pandemic for the millions of deaths it caused and its globally unprecedented negative social and economic ramifications. Given the dire circumstances, it appears that the time might be ripe to reflect on and contemplate our outlook on dealing with the vagaries of pandemics, in general. A changing landscape triggered by such pandemics often requires a change in mindset to better equip ourselves to tackle an ever-evolving reality. In thinking “outside the box,” it seems that there is a necessary shift in mindset. Metaphorically speaking, on the one hand, we have the ‘guest,’ which is the invading pathogen or COVID-19 virus, in this case, and on the other, we have the ‘host’ (the infected or afflicted individual). An important question would be how to engage the two conflicting parties. The idea of focusing on the ‘guest’ has existed in medical literature for the longest time in the form of the all-encompassing germ theory of disease, which posits that infectious diseases are caused by invasive pathogens, such as parasitic infestations, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. However, the existence of miasmas was later demystified by the fathers of microbiology and bacteriology. Despite its heuristic value, however, thus far, the germ theory is ill-equipped to protect the hosts or their environment from the influx of various pathogens. While quality of life has generally improved for most of the 20th century, this is likely to have stemmed from reducing malnutrition and improved standard of living rather than an advanced understanding and application of germ theory. Therefore, infectious diseases continue to contribute significantly to the global burden of morbidity and mortality. A paradigm shift in thinking would be required to better tackle the ‘guests’ and prepare for and handle pandemics effectively. As the famous quote “it takes two to tango” goes, it would take giving both the guest and the host equal attention to handle pandemics of such capacity. Past pandemics have been shown to shift our outlook and change the course of history altogether. Germ theory enabled our understanding of the nature of the guest. Further investigation from the side of the behavioral sciences could become the enabler of understanding the ‘host’. Therefore, when the guest and host start to be understood, accommodated for, and tackled in the context of each other, the hope then remains that the unprecedented backlash caused by an unexpected global pandemic would be a thing of the past."
    }
]