Drug delivery for fighting infectious diseases: a global perspective

Epidemiologists have predicted that viral infections might spread fast in our highly globalized world. For example, a report on “Preparedness for a high-impact respiratory pathogen pandemic” was published in September 2019 by Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security [1]. This report ranked aerosol transmitted viral diseases as the highest risk for a wide-spreading pandemic and named, as an example beyond infuenza, also severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as a zoonotic coronavirus. In approximately 1 year, SARSCoV-2 (coronavirus type 2) has developed into a true pandemic and reminds is that problems must be taken seriously in a timely manner. In the case of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we profited from the protocols established during earlier pandemics. Following the infuenza (H1N1) pandemic in 2009, a pandemic preparedness plan was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). SARS-CoV infections in 2003 and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2012 lead to research in this type of Coronaviridae and strategies to combat them. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa 2014–2016 activated a push for programs in preventive and therapeutic strategies driven by governmental and non-governmental institutions