An online bible study on: Keeping Well in a Season of Pandemic

By Prof. Charles Adisa
We are looking at all round wellness.
? Mental wellness
? Emotional wellness
? Spiritual Wellness
? Economic wellness
? Physical wellness etc.
The key scripture is 3 John 1:2: Beloved, I pray that you may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.
We trust that the study will answer the following questions among others
▪ What is a landemic disease?
A pandemic is an epidemic occurring on a scale that crosses international boundaries, usually affecting a large number of people. Pandemics can also occur in important agricultural organisms (livestock, crop plants, fish, tree species) or in other organisms.
A disease or condition is not a pandemic merely because it is widespread or kills many people; it must also be infectious. For instance, cancer is responsible for many deaths but is not considered a pandemic because the disease is not infectious or contagious.
▪ WHO changing definition
The World Health Organization (WHO) previously applied a six-stage classification that describes the process by which a novel influenza virus moves from the first few infections in humans through to a pandemic. This starts with the virus mostly infecting animals, with a few cases where animals infect people, then moves through the stage where the virus begins to spread directly between people, and ends with a pandemic when infections from the new virus have spread worldwide.
In February 2020, WHO clarified that, “there is no official category (for a pandemic)… For the sake of clarification, WHO does not use the old system of 6 phases — that ranged from phase 1 (no reports of animal influenza causing human infections) to phase 6 (a pandemic) — that some people may be familiar with from H1N1 in 2009.”
▪ History of pandemics
Throughout history, there have been a number of pandemics of diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis.
One of the most devastating pandemics was the Black Death, which killed an estimated 75–200 million people in the 14th century.
The current pandemics are HIV/AIDS and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) .
Other notable pandemics include the 1918 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) and the 2009 flu pandemic (H1N1).
▪ What are the possible health implications of a pandemic?
The most feared are the number of deaths and the number of critically ill people that can overwhelm the national health care resources.
In addition, the loss of frontline workers like medical personnel, also poses serious public health challenge.
The mental and social stress associated with all the bad news and government restrictions also have their toll on the health of the community
Lockdown prevents access to key health services like Immunization, malaria control, HIV drugs and care of the vulnerable with other diseases .
Economic meltdown during the pandemic also induces poverty, crimes, security challenges and suicides.
▪ How can we keep well in a pandemic?
Spiritually: The just shall live by faith. Trust in the Lord. Confess his words and get closer to him
Public Hygiene like hand washing, quarantine, social distancing, avoiding contact with surfaces that are potentially contaminated.and any other instruction by health authorities
Avoid untested drugs and remedies which may cause more harm.
Consider it as an opportunity rather than a problem. Use the opportunity to develop yourself and help others. Tasks you have left undone can be completed. New hobbies or research.
▪ What is immunity?
Immunity is the capability of multicellular organisms to resist harmful microorganisms from entering it.
Immunity involves both specific and nonspecific components. The nonspecific components act as barriers or eliminators of a wide range of pathogens irrespective of their antigenic make-up. Other components of the immune system adapt themselves to each new disease encountered and can generate pathogen-specific immunity.
An immune system may contain innate and adaptive components. The innate system in mammalians, for example, is composed of primitive bone marrow cells that are programmed to recognise foreign substances and to react. The adaptive system is composed of more advanced lymphatic cells that are programmed to recognise self-substances and not to react. The reaction to foreign substances is etymologically described as inflammation, meaning to set on fire.
The non-reaction to self-substances is described as immunity, meaning to exempt or as immunotolerance. These two components of the immune system create a dynamic biological environment where “health” can be seen as a physical state where the self is immunologically spared, and what is foreign is inflammatorily and immunologically eliminated.
“Disease” can arise when what is foreign cannot be eliminated or what is self is not spared.
Innate immunity, also called native immunity, exists by virtue of an organism’s constitution, that is its genetic make-up, without an external stimulation or a previous infection. It is divided into two types:
(a) Non-Specific innate immunity, a degree of resistance to all infections in general.
(b) Specific innate immunity, a resistance to a particular kind of microorganism only. As a result, some races, particular individuals or breeds in agriculture do not suffer from certain infectious diseases.
Adaptive immunity can be sub-divided depending on how the immunity was introduced in ‘naturally acquired’ through chance contact with a disease-causing agent; whereas ‘artificially acquired immunity’ develops through deliberate actions such as vaccination.
Both naturally and artificially acquired immunity can be further subdivided depending on whether the host built up immunity itself by antigen as ‘active immunity’ and lasts long-term, sometimes lifelong. ‘Passive immunity’ is acquired through transfer (injection or infusion) of antibodies or activated T-cells from an immune host; it is short lived—usually lasting only a few months.
▪ How can we build our immunity to survive a pandemic?
– Good nutrition
– Regular Exercise
– Multivitamin supplements
– Avoidance of stress and exposure to infections and disease
– Prophylaxis
– Immunization with vaccines
▪ What are the risk factors in a pandemic?
– Exposure to the contagion
– Failure to observe hygienic culture
– Belief in myths and misinformation
– Undue fear that brings stress and errors
▪ What is herd immunity?
Herd immunity happens when so many people in a community become immune to an infectious disease that it stops the disease from spreading.
This can happen in two ways:
a. Many people contract the disease and in time build up an immune response to it (natural immunity).
b. Many people are vaccinated against the disease to achieve immunity.
Herd immunity can work against the spread of some diseases.
▪ How can it arrest a pandemic?
As people develop immunity, they become resistant to the infection and even if they are carriers and transmit it to others, it doesn’t affect them either as they have become resistant to the disease.
It however depends on how long the immunity lasts as a second wave of the disease may be devastating.
▪ How does infodemic affect our mental health in a pandemic?
Infodemic or misinformation creates fear and distrust in science, technology and other means of ameliorating the disease
It makes people suspicious and resistant to taking the necessary precautions and steps needed to control the disease such as vaccines, social distancing etc
▪ When will this pandemic likely end from medical point of view.
We can’t precisely say, but there are various algorithms and modeling based on the available data. Most of them point to 97 percent control in May/June and complete control before the end of the year.. Remember these are projections with varying degrees of accuracy. We hope we can avoid a second wave of the disease.
▪How do we prepare for a successful post-pandemic life?
– First and foremost, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean on him for wisdom and direction
– Make the best use of the opportunities
– Monitor key investment opportunities and prayerfully cast your net
– Avoid toxic financial transactions that may land you in debts
– Do regular in door exercises to keep fit
– Work on projects and ideas you have abandoned for lack of time
– Be prepared for the challenges ahead like loss of jobs, owed salaries etc.
▪ Adisa conducted this Bible Study online on Monday, April 28, 2020, with He’s alive Chapel, Port Harcourt headed by Pastor John Nwachukwu.