Is there a global pandemic: infectious disease specialist Olga Golubovskaya talks about forecasts for it
Kyiv • UNN
The world is facing a new pandemic. Olga Golubovska talks about what it might be like and whether we have the means to protect ourselves.
The world is facing a new pandemic. UNN talked to the chief infectious disease specialist of Ukraine, Honored Doctor, Professor Olha Holubovska about what it could be and whether we have any means of protection.
We are now living in the era of viral infections - severe viral infections dominate. And all the recent pandemics are not caused by bacteria - they are caused by a virus. And the pandemics that are predicted, the so-called "disease X", are all based mainly on viruses. And we have few resources to treat viral infections, unfortunately
Golubovska recalled that the World Health Organization warned of the next pandemic in 2021. No one can answer what exactly will cause this pandemic, but Golubovska emphasizes that, according to forecasts, it will most likely be a viral infection. And in the treatment of diseases caused by viral infections, the use of antiviral therapy is important.
When asked by UNN whether the next pandemic could be caused by monkeypox, Golubovska replied: "There will be a pandemic for sure.
Regarding monkeypox, in March 2021, NTI, an international nonprofit organization funded by Bill Gates and Ted Buffett that works to prevent possible biological threats, held a fictional exercise in conjunction with the Munich Security Conference. The "legend" of the exercise was a monkeypox pandemic. The results were published on the NTI website. According to the scenario, it all started in the fictional country of Brinia in May 22nd. Then there were four waves, and in the end, the pandemic was 10 times worse than Covid. And in May of '22, there was an outbreak of monkeypox in Britain, and the first two waves were exactly like that scenario. But I don't want to talk about conspiracy theories. (...) But as a clinician, I believe that we need to start from what we have. There is something we cannot influence, but we must be prepared.
She reminded that the CDC, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has developed a monkeypox treatment protocol that includes four antiviral drugs.
"It (the pandemic - ed.) will happen. I don't know whether it will be monkeypox or not. But there is already a treatment protocol for this smallpox, it contains antiviral drugs. Another thing is that we do not have these drugs. This is a problem," the doctor added.
But Golubovska is convinced that Ukraine has good doctors who are able to withstand challenges.
Read more about the situation with infectious diseases in Ukraine in the interview Infectious disease specialist Olga Golubovska: In Ukraine, there is a prejudice against antiviral drugs - the only salvation for viral diseases.
