00:00 Cases of coronavirus have reduced significantly now after over three years of small and big
00:11 waves.
00:13 After the dreadful COVID-hit years which saw the death of around 7 million people globally,
00:17 the disease has now become a familiar health concern.
00:20 But now healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom are gearing up for a potential new
00:25 pandemic called Disease X.
00:29 According to experts, the new virus may be deadlier than COVID-19 and may have a similar
00:33 impact as the Spanish flu.
00:36 The World Health Organization has dubbed the anticipated next pandemic as Disease X, stating
00:42 that it might already be on its way.
00:44 Now let's understand what is Disease X and what we know so far.
00:50 The WHO dubbed the potential next pandemic as Disease X and said that it may already
00:54 be on its way, according to health expert Dame Kate Bingham, who chaired the UK's Vaccine
00:59 Task Force in 2020.
01:01 Disease X may have the capacity to result in 20 times more fatalities as compared to
01:06 COVID-19.
01:07 She fears approximately 50 million fatalities can occur.
01:11 Bingham said that the world would have to prepare for mass vaccination drives and deliver
01:16 the doses in record time.
01:17 The health expert compared the infectiousness of Disease X with that of measles, with the
01:22 fatality rate with that of Ebola, which is 67%.
01:26 She said that somewhere in the world, the disease is replicating and sooner or later
01:30 somebody will start feeling sick.
01:32 Currently, there is no approved vaccine available for Disease X.
01:37 Bingham stressed the importance of scientists developing a collection of different prototype
01:42 vaccines for every threatening virus family.
01:45 Bingham said that just a head start on vaccines for the deadly virus may help target its specific
01:51 features.
01:52 According to her, while scientists have identified 25 virus families surrounding thousands of
01:57 individual viruses, there are millions of other viruses yet to be discovered.
02:01 The health expert said that one of the initial actions that need to be taken is to allocate
02:05 the necessary financial resources.
02:08 She said, "The monetary cost of inaction is seismic.
02:11 After all, even COVID-19, a milder virus than Disease X, managed to leave us holding a bill
02:17 for $16 trillion in both lost output and public health expenditure."
02:26 (upbeat music)
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