The true discoverers of a new pathogen are the frontline doctors and nurses. They are the ones who recognise the clinical patterns, assess the severity, and initiate treatment long before anyone else. Pathologists and radiologists later add clarity to the disease process. Virologists, however, only describe the shape and structure of the pathogen—if viral—well after frontline physicians have already done the real work. Despite contributing the least, virologists and epidemiologists somehow dominate the conversation. Their influence is exaggerated, and their role grossly overrated in the greater scheme of things.
September 21, 2025

- Dr Ellapen Rapiti