The prediction of Fernando Simón and Margarita del Val about future pandemics
After participating in the I International Summit on Pandemic Management organized by the Valencia City Council, which is part of the STAMINA european project, in which 38 organizations representing 19 countries participate and which has had the presence of specialists such as the director of the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies of the Ministry of Health, Fernando Simón, or the researcher of the Higher Council for Scientific Research Margarita del Val, the current situation of monkeypox has begun to capture the attention of the whole world.
for the expert Margaret of the Valley“right now you cannot think of a next pandemic caused by something that is transmitted through water or food, because it would be a local epidemic, however can return us another by air“.
“In the 19th century, it was learned with the cholera epidemics that drinking water must be perfectly separated from wastewater and that by making water drinkable, deaths are avoided and life expectancy has been increased,” he explained.
The director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, has pointed out that COVID has shown that it is necessary to be prepared to face a new crisis. Regarding the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the response “did not start from scratch” since there was previous experience of the health outbreaks of SARS-Cov-1 or salmanellosis. “We were prepared for similar situations, but not for the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2,” he acknowledges.
“We can be calmer”
The epidemiologist Fernando Simón has confirmed this Saturday in Zaragoza that “the transmission of monkeypox between humans has been higher than expected” by confirming 30 positive cases in Spain.
While waiting for more suspicious test results, Simón wanted to convey a message of calm to citizens because “caution must always exist, but right now we must not give a feeling of excessive anguish”, since “it is a disease with particular characteristics and against which the smallpox vaccine for those born before 1977 protects to a certain extent.
“It is not in general one of the most serious or the most frequent condition,” he has maintained. “Atime there is not enough information to assess everything and we have to be careful about giving a risk situation that perhaps, in a few days, will change completely. That does not mean that we professionals do not have to be very attentive and it involves us with important work in terms of health, ”he assured.
The Aragonese doctor recalled that “the coronavirus pandemic is not over, although the data is better and the situation is different from one or two years ago. I wouldn’t want to send the wrong message. We can’t think about letting our guard down completely, although we can be calmer and see that things are not as serious as before”, he added.
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