Sputnik reported that a company that works in predictive analysis in the healthcare industry has reported that there is a 27.5% chance of a COVID-19-like pandemic occurring in the next decade, as viruses become more common.
However, rapid distribution of vaccines is key to reducing deaths.
Climate change, increased international travel, population growth and the risk of zoonotic diseases are all adding to the risk, according to Airfinity Ltd. But if effective vaccines are introduced 100 days after a new pathogen is discovered, the chance of a deadly pandemic drops to 8.1%.
And “Airfinity” said that in a worst-case scenario, a virus of the type of bird flu, which mutates to be transmitted from one person to another, could cause up to 15,000 deaths per day in the United Kingdom, according to “Bloomberg” agency.
And health experts are trying to draw attention to preparing for the next potential global threat. Three major coronaviruses have spread over the past two decades, causing SARS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and COVID-19, as well as swine flu in 2009.
The rapid spread of the H5N1 avian influenza strain is already a cause for concern. Although only a handful of people have been infected so far, and there is no indication of the virus spreading from person to person, the rapid increase in the rate of infection in birds and the increase in infection in mammals has raised concerns among scientists and governments that the virus could mutate, facilitating its spread.
There are no vaccines or treatments available for many high-risk pathogens, such as MERS and Zika virus, and current surveillance methods are unlikely to detect new epidemics in time. This highlights the urgent need to take pandemic preparedness measures, according to Airfinity. (Sputnik)
