The COVID-19 Textbook

Preface

COVID-19 took the world by storm beginning in the closing months of 2019. The world was simply not prepared for a natural disaster of such magnitude. The true toll in terms of lives lost, long-term social and economic impacts, and opportunities to live full and productive lives taken from many hundreds of millions may never be known. The devastation has been profound enough that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect our lives for many years to come. If there is a bright spot, it is the collective effort of our medical, scientific, and public health efforts to respond to the pandemic, to understand the disease, to save the lives of those infected, to develop new means to prevent and treat infection, to understand the causal virus, and to prepare for future pandemics to come. This textbook summarizes those valiant efforts. This text is written not as a historical account but instead as a guide for all those working to pre vent this and similar disasters from occurring. In that respect, it is intended for advanced university students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and young professionals preparing for life in public health, research, medicine, and public policy. I am pleased that my coeditor, Roberto Patarca, and I have been able to draw upon world-leading experts in each aspect of the pandemic, including natural history, epidemiology, molecular biology, immune response, drug and vaccine development, and medical treatment. We are grateful for the participation of all our contributors and thank the publisher, Wolters Kluwer, for their help in the preparation of the text.

Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction of the content is prohibited.

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