Future pandemics could be more deadly and contagious, says scientist
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine researcher Sarah Gilbert said, "This won't be the last time a virus has threatened our lives and livelihoods and called for more funding to better prepare science. "The advances we've made. and the knowledge we acquire must not be lost," he stated.
"Just as we invest in armed forces, secret services and diplomacy to defend ourselves from wars, we must invest in people, research, manufacturing and institutions to defend ourselves from pandemics", maintained Sarah Gilbert, quoted in the British newspaper The Guardian .
In early 2020, when covid-19 first appeared in China and the disease spread, Sarah Gilbert, professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, and her team created one of the vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
Currently, the scientist says that the disease is far from over and that the highly mutable Ômicron variant is unlikely to be the last. For her, the next virus could be worse. "It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both."
"We can't allow a situation like the one we've been through and then find out that the huge economic losses we've suffered mean that there's still no funding to prepare for a pandemic," he added.
"The advances we have made and the knowledge we have acquired must not be lost", warns the researcher, drawing attention to the need to continue maintaining investment in science.
The statements were released after the United Kingdom ed, on Sunday (5), 246 cases of the Ômicron variant and nearly 44,000 new daily infections, with 54 deaths each day.
In the Ômicron variant, the spike protein was found to contain known mutations responsible for increasing the transmissibility of the virus, Gilbert said. "But there are additional changes that could mean that antibodies induced by vaccines, or by infection with other variants, may be less effective in preventing Ômicron infection. Until we know more, we must be cautious and take steps to slow the spread of this new strain. ".
Mark Woolhouse, a scientist who advises the government of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, says, quoted by the BBC: "If current trends here and in South Africa continue in the coming weeks and months, the new Ômicron could replace the Delta as the dominant strain in the world".
Over the weekend, the British government announced that anyone traveling to the UK has to take a covid-19 test at the departure point. Nigeria was added to the red list of potential Ômicron importing countries, as it is associated with new cases of the variant in British territory.
"If Ômicron is here in the UK - and it certainly is - if there is community broadcast in the UK - and it certainly looks like it is - then it is that community broadcast that will drive the next wave," Woolhouse said.
The scientist adds that the new restrictions are too late and too timid to deal with "a potential wave of the variant in the UK".
According to The Guardian , the large percentage of new cases, in general, are related to unvaccinated patients. Labor leader Keir Starmer, taking advantage of this information, vehemently criticizes those who resist inoculation: "It's frustrating and worrisome that doctors are keeping track of many hospital beds, and National Health Service resources are being used by those who have chosen to not receive the vaccine".
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
