Five years after the start of the pandemicCOVID-19 has become a seemingly banal presence, but infections can be persistent and cause death. This is what specialists point out.
Omicron variant, the one that dominates
More than five years after its appearance in China, the virus that causes COVID-19 It has officially infected 777 million people and caused more than seven million deaths – in reality, many more – according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, with time and different waves, the impact of respiratory infection on deaths and hospitalizations has decreased considerablythanks to the immunity acquired by the population through vaccination and/or previous infections.
COVID-19 continues to cause deaths (more than 3 thousand between October and November 2024 in 27 countries, according to the OMS), but the vast majority of deaths were recorded between 2020 and 2022.
In May 2023, the WHO withdrew the maximum alert level for a global pandemic.
The virus, so far, does not show a specific seasonality, but appears to be becoming progressively endemic, with regular resurgences, similar to the flu, according to various experts.
However, “the world wants to forget this pathogen that is still with us, people want to relegate COVID to the past – and in many ways, act as if nothing had happened – because it was so traumatic,” Maria Van Kerkhove commented in mid-December. , responsible for epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the WHO.
Since the fall of 2021, the omicron variant has definitively prevailed, and the subvariants have continued without being more severe than others.
However, some scientists consider that the scenario of more virulent variants or those that escape immunity cannot be completely ruled out.
In any case, SARS-CoV-2 will remain among humans.
COVID vaccines and treatments
Vaccination, essential to confront the pandemic, has been massive since the extraordinarily rapid development of the vaccines.
More than 13.6 billion doses have been administered around the world, although with very unequal access between poor and rich countries.
The adapted vaccines against omicron – in its JN.1 version – continue to be recommended, especially for the most vulnerable people, since they still offer protection against severe forms and the risk of long COVID.
However, vaccination coverage is insufficient, especially among the elderly and health workers, the WHO warned.
The search for vaccines that act longer and more effectively against infection and transmission continues, as does the exploration of new methods of administration (nasal, oral, cutaneous).
As for treatments, the options have been reduced since the appearance of the omicron variant: only some direct antivirals and a monoclonal antibody remain.
Some innovations developed or accelerated by the pandemic, particularly messenger RNA vaccines, remain a source of hope for other diseases, such as cancer.
Long COVID
About 6% of infected people developed what is known as “long COVID”: fatigue, cough, difficulty breathing, intermittent fever, loss of taste or smell, concentration problems, depression…
Symptoms generally set in within three months of infection, persist for at least two months, and are not explained by another diagnosis.
The WHO warned in December that “long COVID” is still “a significant burden on health systems.”
Women and people with health previous ones are the most affected. Additionally, reinfections appear to increase the risks.
Scientists have made progress, but have not yet fully unraveled its mechanisms, considering several hypotheses: the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in the body, the maintenance of a post-infection inflammatory state or the formation of microclots.
Future pandemics
COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic, scientists are sure of it. The question is when the next one will come and whether the world will be better prepared.
Approximately 60% to 70% of emerging diseases are zoonotic, that is, derived from pathogens transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans. These diseases multiply due to deforestation, which increases contacts with wildlife, a reservoir of unknown viruses.
Currently, avian flu is being closely watched, especially after a first human death recorded last Monday in the United States. This is an elderly patient with other pathologies who was infected by domestic and wild birds.
For more than two years, WHO member countries have been negotiating an agreement to prevent pandemicsbut progress is slow. The memory of the damage of COVID-19 fades, governments change and A blockade persists between rich and poor countries.
The COVID-19 era has also lastingly increased vaccine mistrust and misinformation. The re-elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that he wants to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a well-known vaccine skeptic, as health minister.
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