2024-01-01 17:14:02
The coronavirus is one of the health challenges the planet has to face for another year as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in a message about global health threats in 2024, as the number of people belonging to groups high risk that make the global COVID-19 vaccine “unacceptable”.
From the emergence of the new JN.1 coronavirus mutation, to concerns about monkeypox in central Africa, to the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in other countries thanks to climate change, health looks set to take center stage again .
Sky News spoke to Dr. Maria van Kerkave, an infectious disease expert who heads the WHO Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention.
“I don’t understand why it’s a surprise,” he said when asked about the rise in COVID-19 cases. “We certainly haven’t seen seasonality with COVID yet. But for all other respiratory diseases we see an increase in the autumn and winter months in temperate regions. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise,” he added.
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This is why, according to her, vaccination campaigns for diseases such as influenza and COVID-19 start early, targeting the most vulnerable. “But vaccination coverage in all countries of risk groups is unacceptable… For me, this is the biggest disappointment… The coronavirus has solutions, the flu has solutions, which can prevent serious illness and death. Why don’t we use them?”, he added.
Climate change and the spread of dengue fever
But it is not just the coronavirus that could be at the center of attention in the coming year. As world leaders gathered in Dubai to discuss the fight against climate change earlier this month, global warming was already having an impact on the spread of infectious diseases, says Maria van Kerkave.
Dengue fever, a virus transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, is a good example. “It really shows the challenges because we have mosquitoes going further north and further south,” he says. “Countries like Italy are seeing dengue transmission within their borders that they have never experienced before.”
It is believed that dengue-carrying mosquitoes could be common in England by the 2040s. As he says the impact of climate change is already being felt.
“This is not a theoretical risk for the future. It’s happening now and it needs to be addressed now,” the expert emphasizes.
Epidemic of monkey pox
The head of WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention also pointed to an outbreak of the monkeypox virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in central Africa.
“We have a huge sexually transmitted outbreak,” he said. “This can be transmitted quite efficiently between people,” he added.
Monkey pox is a disease caused by infection with the mpox virus. There are two types of mpox virus: Clade I and Clade II.
Clade I has a higher mortality rate, with a mortality rate of about 10%. Clade II is generally milder and this type is circulating in Europe, said Dr. Maria van Kerkave. “So we’re worried about Clade I spreading to other countries, and there’s very little attention on mpox at the moment,” he explains.
She stated that this sort of thing does not need to be in the news every day, as long as governments themselves do not lose sight of the threats posed by infectious diseases.
Infectious diseases in war zones
The world enters 2024 with two ongoing conflicts, namely the war between Ukraine and Russia and the one between Israel and Hamas, dominating the spotlight, as well as a host of other under-reported global wars.
For medical professionals, the desperate conditions in war zones and the destruction of people’s homes increase the risk of infectious diseases spreading.
“This makes it much more difficult,” says the head of WHO’s Division of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention. “In addition to the infectious threats they face, people are hungry, malnourished, lack access to clean water and waste systems, and are cold. People who are afraid and threatened will suffer more when infectious diseases are present.’
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