Will we be ready when the next pandemic strikes?
Until recently the world has not seen a pandemic of influenza since 1968 and the generals of global health assumed that the next major pandemic involving influenza would be the avian flu. As it turns out, the world had its influenza radar so set on southern China and South-East Asia that no one was expecting the attack to come from just south of the U.S border in Mexico. Not only was it from an unexpected place, but also the strain of flu came from a pig and not a chicken.
When the new epidemic was raised on April 29th of this year, the World Health Organization placed it only one step below the level of a certified pandemic. Influenza pandemics strike every few decades, and the last pandemic killed one million people in 1968. Many influenza pandemics are ubiquitous as they emerge during the normal flu season and they often have a mild beginning before they turn extremely dangerous.
The world must be prepared for the worst concerning influenza pandemics because they may go unnoticed during the normal flu season and only become apparent when they lag on past a certain time period. Antiviral factories must be ready with both the funding and equipment to produce vaccines as soon as new influenza mutations become a threat. Active caution is necessarily in order for threatening strains of influenza to be detected and vaccines to be produced because “its is only a matter of time before a deadlier one comes along.” High caution and awareness today could prevent millions of deaths in the future.
This article raises caution and reminds us that prevention is better than cure, and in the case of influenza prevention is all we have. However, one of the main problems concerning vaccines for global epidemics (pandemics) is that there is both a lack of access and a lack of money. Millions of people around the world cannot afford or do not have access to the vaccines necessary to prevent the spread of influenza viruses and this will lead to tragic outcomes when another influenza pandemic breaks out.
The Economist. "The Pandemic Threat." April 30, 2009. http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13576183
GREAT BLOG!
ReplyDeleteYes its unfortunate that our country can spend billions on a war and not a penny on prevention of pandemics! We should have learned from the HIV pandemic that timing is everything in stopping this. However our government who is paid to speak for us continue to turn a blind eye when talking about our health.