Coronavirus has a feature that distinguishes a pandemic from the spread of influenza.
According to Business Insider, with an epidemic of influenza, even in its severe form, a large part of the population is insured against the disease, thanks to the developed immunity or vaccinations. At the same time, the specialist in infectious diseases from the University. Washington DC St. Louis Abigail Carlson, people with immunity, help protect the entire community from influenza.
“When a virus infects them, it is at an impasse. They do not get sick, do not transmit the infection and stop the spread of the virus,” the expert explains.
Of course, protective collective immunity is not a panacea, since many people die every year from the flu, but it helps to keep the epidemic developing at a level that will not prove catastrophic for the healthcare system.
In the case of coronavirus, the situation is different. There is no collective immunity to this disease yet. And despite the fact that mortality from the new virus is relatively low, it is more contagious.
“We are now in a state where the healthcare system has been under a lot of stress,” says Abigail Carlson, citing as an example the limited resources such as masks, ventilators and places in hospitals.
Otto Young, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, draws attention to the fact that the coronavirus vaccine will be created no earlier than in a year, and its development will require more efforts than releasing an annual flu shot.
Another problem, according to the expert, is the insufficiently effective coronavirus testing procedure. In the case of the flu, testing is more reliable.
– .
