Everything you need to know about the upcoming Epidemic X coming soon
The World Health Organization uses the term “Disease X” to refer to an infection that could cause the next pandemic
Al Arabiya.net – Jamal Nazi
Published on: 21 January 2024: 11.28am GST Last updated: 21 January 2024: 12.19pm GST
Disease X doesn’t exist yet, but it may one day. The name “Disease
According to New Scientist, the term, coined in 2017, can be used to refer to a newly discovered pathogen or any known pathogen with newly acquired pandemic potential. According to the latest definition, COVID-19 was the first Disease X, but there may be another in the future.
Future pandemics
The World Health Organization warned world leaders of the risks of future pandemics during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland. “Some say this could cause panic,” says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, explaining that “it is better to anticipate something that could happen – because it has happened many times in our history – and prepare.” [العالم] from the”.
Disease X is coming
Coronaviruses, a large group of viruses, have long been considered prime contenders for producing a new pandemic, even before the COVID-19 outbreak. This is because the new coronavirus was not the first serious pathogen in this group. In 2002, a different coronavirus began spreading in China. It caused a form of pneumonia called SARS, which killed about 1 in 10 people infected, before it was stopped through strict infection control measures. Another, more deadly coronavirus, called MERS, occasionally breaks out, causing pneumonia that kills one in three infected people. But recent research suggests that SARS and MERS will have a harder time sparking a new pandemic because nearly everyone in the world now has antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19, and these antibodies appear to provide partial protection against most other pathogens in COVID. -19. Family -19.Coronavirus.
Other Covid contenders
There are many diseases, some well known and some less well known, that can pose a global threat. Influenza strains have caused global pandemics several times in the past, including one of the deadliest epidemics ever, the “Spanish flu” of 1918. A deadly strain of avian influenza is currently sweeping across the world, sometimes spreading from birds to mammals. Causing mass deaths. And just this week he was named guilty of the deaths of 17,000 baby elephant seals in Argentina last October. There are also other contenders, such as Ebola, which causes severe bleeding, and the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which can cause babies to be born with smaller heads if infection occurs during pregnancy. The World Health Organization has updated the list of pathogens with the greatest pandemic potential in 2022.
Prevention of disease
There is some good news: the COVID-19 pandemic may have made it easier to stop any future disease. This has led, for example, to the emergence of mRNA-based vaccines. This formula contains a short piece of genetic material that causes the body’s immune cells to produce the coronavirus’ “spike” protein, but it can be updated to make cells produce a different protein by simply rewriting the mRNA sequence.
Early warning and health services
The Director-General of the World Health Organization says that countries need better early warning systems for new diseases and that health services must become more flexible in the face of unexpected increases in demand, underlining that “when hospitals were at beyond capacity… [بسبب كوفيد]Many patients have been lost because this was not possible [توفير الرعاية الطبية اللازمة لهم]. There wasn’t enough space and there wasn’t enough oxygen. To prevent the same thing from happening when Disease X strikes, Tedros says health services need to be able to expand their capacity on demand. Fortunately, you can make these preparations without knowing exactly what disease
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2024-01-21 07:28:00
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