Preface
Peter M.A. Calverley
Newspaper journalists often claim they write the first draft of history.
That distinction can also be applied to Aurelie Fabre, John R. Hurst
and Sheila Ramjug who, in 2021, edited the first Monograph on the
new and frightening viral illness COVID-19. To do so was a tour de
force of academic writing in the midst of a major health crisis.
Like a metaphorical tsunami, the worst of the pandemic wave has
passed and in 2023 the WHO declared an end to the global health
emergency. COVID-19 upended everyone’s life and left many with
unexpected new and poorly understood problems in the form of
post-COVID illnesses. On the positive side, the response of the
healthcare profession across the world was remarkable and accompanied
by a surge in scientific publication to communicate urgently needed
knowledge about a previously unknown illness. In view of this
wealth of data, we have taken the unusual step of commissioning a
further Monograph to update our readers on how our knowledge has
evolved and what challenges still face the respiratory community.
We are grateful to James D. Chalmers, Catia Cilloniz and Bin Cao
who have brought together a truly international group of experts, as
befits a global illness, to give us insight into all aspects of this
disease its cellular effects, epidemiological evolution, medical
therapy and prevention, and the legacy it leaves in some who have
been infected. Even the impact of COVID-19 on medical publication
and clinical trial design are considered.
It is 500 years this year since the first of Shakespeare’s plays was
published. In Macbeth, the king laments his life as being a tale
“full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The voices of the
patients affected by COVID-19, so eloquently presented in the first
chapter of this Monograph, tell us why this must not be true of the
lessons learned during the pandemic. By reading this Monograph
you will be well equipped to ensure that is not the case.
Disclosures: P.M.A. Calverley reports receiving grants, personal fees and non-
financial support from pharmaceutical companies that make medicines to treat
respiratory disease. This includes reimbursement for educational activities and
advisory work, and support to attend meetings.
Copyright ©ERS 2024. Print ISBN: 978-1-84984-181-8. Online ISBN: 978-1-84984-182-5. Print ISSN: 2312-508X. Online
ISSN: 2312-5098.
https://doi.org/10.1183/2312508X.10012424 v
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