Medical interventions range from prevention (examples include: social distancing, wearing a mask, and washing your hands regularly) to treatment (examples include: antibody therapies, pharmaceuticals, and other symptoms management) phases of an infection. In general, treatment options depend on when a person first engages health care providers and their clinical status. If it is late, it can be too late. There are very few "miracle cures" for infections that have gotten out of control.

When a person feels so bad that they go to the hospital, it can often be too late or require exhaustive measures.

If disease symptoms are moderate to severe, the patient may survive, but have long-term clinical issues as a result of the acute infection (this is common with both COVID-19 and Ebola).

The long term impact on a survivor can range from mild to extremely debilitating. This is why vaccination is always preferable to treatment in a public health approach. Prevention is less costly and less risky for the individual than treatment.

Preventing infectious disease is not as complicated as you might think. Regular exercise is one of the most effective methods to staying healthy and reducing the risk of developing comorbidities. Other simple and effective methods include healthy eating and maintaining a regular sleep schedule.

If you're interested, our CEO, Ian Colrain, has done some fascinating research on human sleep physiology throughout his career.