Which declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020; On the ground, experts deny “new risk” and explain the problem
Five years after the World Health Organization has declared the Covid-19 pandemic, a date for Tuesday 11 March, the world is not imminently at risk of a new pandemic. TO EarthExperts deny that at the moment there are some pathogens that represent an immediate risk, but explain that the possibilities that society will have to face a new pandemic are not zero.
“It does not exist,” says the doctor in epidemiology and the collective health specialist André Ribas Freitas, as regards the immediate risk that there is a new pandemic. Even so, to be appreciated and prepared to act effectively if something occurs, public health agencies work with the possibility, he explains. “The question of the possibility of new pandemics is a real possibility.”
In the case of Sars-Cov-2, Dr. in immunology of the USP and professor at the University Ribeirão Preto School of Nursing, Luiz Gustavo Gardinassi, explains that viruses like this have high mutation rates that allow them to infect guests and make them continue to be transmitted.
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Therefore, as at the moment there is no imminent risk in this sense, “the possibility of new pandemics occurs precisely because the well -known and unknown viruses have mutations that allow an advantage over the guest and can trigger a new pandemic”, explains Gardinassi, which cites the influence, which has already caused pandemics and can generate new.
Recently, for example, Chinese researchers have discovered a new type of coronavirus, the HKu5-Cov-2, identified in the bats by the Wuhan Virology Institute. The discovery has become the target of disinformation, but in reality the virus has been mapped before infecting people and so far there is no recording of human diseases for its part.
“What is known is that this virus has a mechanism of entry into the cells that is similar to Sars-Cov-2. It was detected only in bat champions, there are no registers of human cases, but laboratory experiments with human cells suggest that it can infect human beings. This would happen without an intermediate guest, directly from bats for humans, “says Gardinassi.
The expert says that bats have a different immune system that allows them to tolerate these infectious viruses they bring. Due to the improvements developed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is possible to follow the evolution-real time of viruses through sequencing technologies, which helps an increasingly faster formulation of vaccines against these agents.
“We have much better tools to face pandemics today, in particular the vaccines at the EN, given the success that went with Covid-19“He says, adding that these progress, unfortunately, can be influenced by the cuts to scientific funding recently made in the United States by the Trump government.
“They will have a direct impact on the research on pandemic preparation, since this requires both investments and professionals dedicated to studying the most varied champions of animals, environments and patients who can suffer from an unknown disease,” he explains.
The World Health Organization has declared the end of the emergence of public health of international importance (Esppi), referring to Covid-19, on May 5, 2023. According to the WHO data, there were over 6.9 million deaths until the date. The disease had been put as SPI on January 30, 2020, before being characterized as a pandemic on March 11 of the same year.
“Protect forests to avoid healthcare”
“It is essential that society and governments invests in sustainable and scientific solutions, not of sharpness, to avoid new health convulsions”, underlines Laís Barreto, biologist, doctorate in botany, post-dottorate in agricultural sciences (agroecology) and professor at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB).
He underlines that protecting forests and ecosystems is only an environmental problem. “It is an essential strategy to guarantee global health,” he says.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted how environmental degradation can influence both the emergency and the spread of zoonosis, the diseases transmitted by animals to humans. One thing we know is that unbridled deforestation and the loss of natural ecosystems have reduced some natural ecological barriers, increasing this probability of contact between humans and wild species of animals. This provides specific conditions, in particular thinking about the transmission of viruses, which once were very limited to natural environments, “he explains.
With this, it underlines that in the last 5 years significant progress has occurred, in particular as regards the research on the interaction between environmental changes and infectious diseases.
“Despite these progress, the challenges are still many. The deforestation in the Amazon and among other biomes remains at worrying levels. And it is mainly guided by activities such as illegal extraction and agricultural expansion “, he says, putting the weakening of environmental policies and inspection agencies as points that make it difficult to progress.
Disinformation is not over
For Victor Piaia, professor at the FGV Communication and coordinator of Dapp Lab, the institution’s data analysis laboratory, during the Covid-19 pandemics, negative content or with disinformation related to the vaccine or other aspects of the debate on health, were initially associated with political issues. And this has changed over time, causing the continuity of the “machine”.
“The sharing of a negative content was related to the defense of Jair Bolsonaro, was related to the consumption of a certain type of average which is not the traditional media. It was a trait of the identity of a Brazilian political groupInfluent, growing and this somehow flooded the public debate, “he underlines, from the research he had developed at the time.
Five years have passed and, since then, Piaia evaluates that the damage to the Brazilian public debate was many. This “ecosystem”, as described, has overcome the barrier of political identity and advanced to other consumer and economic chains, creating a “disinformation market” that continues to exist.
Which, on the other hand, warned of the importance of a more effective debate on information health. For the teacher, the importance not only of conducting specialized campaigns on the subject was given, but the counterattack campaigns from the frequent monitoring of speeches. “When we think, for example, in problems related to the outcome of vaccines, at the minimum of vaccines in children, today this is a problem of disinformation and public health.”
Recent changes relating to the moderation of content on digital platforms, such as the goal, make this process difficult, believes. “The state, justice, loses, in some way, an agile and collaborative communication channel for the removal of these content. And then the removal takes place from more to the conflict and the question imposed and no more than an active collaboration. There is no division of responsibility, “he says.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
