Coronavirus infection in the future may become an endemic disease, that is, characteristic of a certain area. This was stated by Michael Ryan, director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Program. The briefing is available on Twitter.
“There is always a risk that this or that disease will become endemic, systemic. We have seen such examples, ”he explained. The WHO expert recalled that in the entire history of mankind has managed to defeat only one disease – smallpox, while, for example, poliomyelitis and measles have not been eradicated.
According to Ryan, the coronavirus has a number of characteristics that make it very difficult to get rid of it completely. Thus, the pathogen is present in all countries of the world, and access to a vaccine is currently suboptimal. A similar situation will continue in the near future, and therefore the transmission of the pathogen will continue.
“This year we have the opportunity to significantly reduce mortality and return to normal life. However, the virus will continue to spread long enough if we cannot achieve widespread [vaccination] coverage, ”he warned. The WHO program director concluded that it is necessary to reduce the potential for the spread of the virus so that it does not disrupt economies and kill people.
A similar scenario after the coronavirus pandemic was predicted by the WHO representative in Russia Melita Vujnovich. She suggested that the infection would become endemic and low-threat.
