Importance of Zero Patient in Pandemics

Abstract

The patient zero is the first reported patient in a pandemic within a population, or the first documented
patient incorporated in a pandemic study. Some scientists claimed that it’s important to examine primary
cases . The term patient zero refers to the person identified as the first carrier of a communicable disease
in an outbreak of related cases. They act as a symbol for initial actions that have major downstream
consequences.The primary recorded victim of the Ebola infection was a 44 year old teacher named Mabola
Lokela,who passed away on 8thSeptember 1970, 614 days after the clinical manifestation started .An infant
in the Lewis House at 40 broad Road is viewed as the patient zero in the 1854 cholera outbreak in the Soho
neighborhood of London .Pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents and it
affects more people and takes more lives than epidemic.It is an epidemic which takes place on a scale that
crosses universal limits, generally influencing individuals on an overall scale. Detection of patient zero gives
new insight to epidemiologists about the nature of first transmissions into a population.it’s important to find
the first person infected with the pathogen.By knowing person’s history of patient zero we can determine
the outbreak of the disease and the route of transmission .Discovering them might be significant in certain
occasions, to know whether they are still alive and transmitting the infection. Identifying a “patient zero”
is a rife with potential to provoke blame and scapegoating. Patient zero triggers a “desperate hunt” and is
continuously giving expression to communal fears about dangerously reckless behaviour,Researchers have
found people harbour negative attitudes towards Patient zero.The patient zero issue comprises of finding
the source of a pandemic outbreak given,perceptions at a later time.Contemplating the patient zero issue we
additionally tackle the issue of finishing and rectifying the observation to people and false test results