Experts unraveled the four critical medical questions on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that continue to devastate lives and economies around the globe for over half a year now.

COVID-19
(Photo : Reutersconnect)

As the days progressed, more discoveries have been reported about the virus from its transmission, mutation, and potential vaccines. 

But recently, there are five critical medical questions on COVID-19 that had been answered and unraveled by experts, as reported by ABC News. Here are four of them: 

1. When are we going to have a safe and effective vaccine?

The top priority today of all health organizations and countries worldwide is to produce and acquire safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines that will help give long-time immunity. But the question that remained unanswered is when it will be available?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been tracking around 170 potential vaccines.

Though Russia said the COVID-19 vaccine they named "Sputnik" is safe and effective, it is not yet recognized by the WHO because it has yet to undergo Phase 3, and there are only less than 40 persons who participated in Phase 1 and Phase vaccine trial. This is far from the standard 30,000 each trial.

Typically, a vaccine takes years before it is approved. However, optimistic projections indicate that a COVID-19 vaccine will be available before the year ends or early next year. The only problem is once it is available, wide-scale distribution will take time. 

2. Are children susceptible to the virus?

It was first thought that the younger you are, the lesser is the chance that you get the virus. It was also established that the elderly are more susceptible to the virus which is true because of their weak immunity due to their age.

However, a recent report from the WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was an increase in the number of children getting infected for the virus. A recently published report in Latin Post described the children as "silent spreaders." 

There is also a risk that some children develop an idiosyncratic, a severe inflammatory reaction called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. In a small number of children, the immune system goes into overdrive and can damage the heart. 

3. Why some people do not get really sick?

Some studies suggest up to 80 percent of people remained asymptomatic and it is thought that a significant number of people do not get any symptoms at all. 

Dr. Ashish Jha, Professor of Global Health and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute said "I think this is still such a mysterious virus... its ability to impact certain people tremendously whereas sparing others all make this virus difficult to understand, diagnose and treat."

Additionally, there are also risk factors for developing severe COVID-19 like age, obesity, and other co-morbidities.

4. Can people get reinfected?

The duration of a coronavirus immunity and the mutation of the virus are just two of the things that could influence reinfection rates. However, it is still not clear for how long the immunity will last. 

Meanwhile, a previously published article in Latin Post reported the updates that CDC made on its quarantine guidelines. It was reported that there is no need for a person to have a COVID-19 test again if he or she is not experiencing any symptoms within three months. 

This simply means that reinfection is possible but if that happens, it is no longer contagious anymore. However, it is also not clear if the reinfection is more severe or not. 

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