EDITORIAL

EDITIORIAL

It has been an unprecedented one year with theCOVID-19 pandemic ravaging the entire world. Life hasn’t been much slower since we have known it, with the infrequent lock-downs and closure of schools and other public places.

We have subsequently navigated several turfs in the scientific world ranging from; the controversy on the“use or otherwise of face masks”, the superiority tussle of “Hydroxychloroquine as a wonder drug”,the “Euraka of Ivermectin” and now the fear of adverse effects that could potentially accompany the administration of the currently existing COVID-19 vaccines.

SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19 and since the initial report from Wuhan, China, the number of infected persons has skyrocketed accounting for the current global estimate of 154,233,987 cases as of4th May, 2021. Additionally, the SARS-CoV-2 has unfortunately claimed the lives of several millions of people worldwide. Despite the relatively low mutation rate of this virus, its high prevalence in the human population globally has allowed it to diversify quickly and genomic surveillance efforts have since identified a number of ‘variants of concern’ that have been associated with rapid expansion in their local communities and spread to other countries.

It’s springtime of the pandemic and the world is struggling to get over the trauma of the last year, the quarantined are emerging into sunlight, and beginning to navigate travel, classrooms and restaurants. AsNigeria has transcended two successive waves of the current pandemic and the virus continues to evolve, there cannot be a better time to update our knowledge on COVID-19 and its perpetrator, SARS-CoV-2.Currently, countries like India are going through a nasty second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic while some have now moved on to the third wave! Life has refused to go back to the norm for majority and we are daily discovering that when it comes to returning to the old ways, many feel out of sorts. Do we now start to shake hands? Hug? Do we need to continue to wear our masks or move on without a mask and the list goes on.

The current Edition of the Annals of IbadanPostgraduate Medicine highlights interesting research from diverse specialty with focus on COVID-19.Herein are reports on various aspecs of the COVID-19 pandemic including; epidemiological patterns of the COVID-19 pandemic; clinical manifestations ofCOVID-19 from the Ear, nose and Throat perspective; the One-Health approach to tacklingCOVID-19, Post COVID-19 plans for economic recovery; the impact of COVID-19 on Telemedicine, surgery in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, sexual Health and malaria control as well as the humoral immune response to COVID-19 was also reported.

I invite us all to grab a cup of Tea or Coffee and enjoy a good read!

Dr. Adeola Fowotade MB;BS, Ph.D., FMCPath,

FWACP

Consultant Virologist/Senior Lecturer

Dept of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology

University College Hospital and College of

Medicine, University of Ibadan,

Nigeria