How to understand a local enemy when fighting a global threat: a research experience from southern Colombia in the middle of a pandemic Cómo entender a un enemigo local cuando se lucha contra una amenaza global: una experiencia de investigación desde el sur de Colombia en medio de una pandemia

Resumen

Dengue virus (DENV) infection represents an important public health problem for southern Colombia. With the aim of promoting the scientific vocation in young graduate students, the local government and the Ministry of Science supported scholarships looking to contribute to the understanding of the dengue disease. Our work explores challenges in the study of DENV in a middle-income country, from the perspective of a young female physician and current Ph.D. student who developed an interest in DENV research driven by a willingness to contribute to her community. However, in the 2020, and a half, in addition to the circulation of DENV, Colombia had to face the SARS-CoV-2, and research priorities were forced to shift to target the emerging pandemic. Thus, she had to solve problems to continue with the DENV investigations, such as the low availability of reagents, the long time for their delivery, the close of the Lab for weeks, the SARS-CoV-2 infection of 80% of the Lab members, and the dead of friends and family members.
The ability to adapt, the skills acquired, the accessibility of new infrastructure and specialized equipment together with the motivation to continue contributing, made it possible not only to overcome the crisis and advance DENV research but
also contribute to the performance of thousands of free molecular tests for SARSCoV-2 in the local vulnerable population. This experience contributed to the visibility of the science program in the region and the use of human and technological resources available to confront emerging infectious diseases locally.