Gikas Majorkinis: Bird flu can cause a pandemic

Avian flu is the next threat that can cause a pandemic. This finding is made by Associate Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Gikas Majorcain statements to Prensa Libre on Sunday on the occasion of his book “The Chronicle of Viruses”, which will be released tomorrow by “Papadopoulos” publications.

In 100 pages, he provides important information about viruses, the result of his research effort for years. On the contrary, the descriptions of it are very clear and the book “Chronicle of viruses” becomes attractive even for people who are not related to Medicine or Biology.

They are alive?

“Viruses are exotic entities that were born alongside life and usurp it in a struggle to conquer eternity,” he characteristically writes in the chapter with which he tries to answer whether viruses are alive. “Due to the incomplete biological construction of viruses and the total dependence for their reproduction, and thus their perpetuation, on other living organisms, it is questionable whether viruses can be considered living organisms. Instead, viruses have genetic material , like living organisms”, he says in relation to a question that, after all, seems scientifically unanswerable. “After more than 20 years of research activity on viruses, in my light they perceive their existence on the edge of life In our attempt to classify entities in a binary state, life or non-life, we overlook that there are more categories created in the universe than we understand.”

Asked if we can “eliminate” viruses or if they will continue to plague us, Majorkinis replies that “they are sure to increase” and “there is no way to eliminate them, as they are part of our DNA.” We come into contact with many without realizing it. A small percentage is what worries us”, as he says.

He… CALL FOR HELP

What are the viruses that concern scientific and health authorities and need constant vigilance and attention? The associate professor replies that in addition to the well-known SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, highly pathogenic viruses are those that are permanently under the “microscope”. Such are HIV, which causes AIDS infection, viruses that cause hepatitis, influenza viruses, poliovirus, which then creates foci of infection, measles virus, Marburg, some noroviruses, and enteroviruses for some parts of the world. planet, as well as mosquito-borne viruses such as yellow fever and West Nile virus.

Mr Majorkinis spoke in particular about bird flu, saying that both internationally and in Greece it had rung a “bell”. According to him, if there is going to be a next pandemic, it will be bird flu. “It has spread widely in animals and shows signs of adapting to humans,” he tells “ET.” Sunday

Vaccines

Do viruses affect humans in the same way as before? Everyone knows the answer. Diseases that used to cause epidemics and were particularly deadly are now all but eradicated.

“The impact of viral infections on the average person was much more severe and deadly in the past than it is today, and this was most evident in infants and children. What has changed so that we no longer see fatal viral infections in babies and children as often (at least in the “developed” world)? To a large extent, vaccination of children has changed the prognosis for viral infections, with the result that these phenomena of the past have been almost eliminated. Measles, smallpox or poliomyelitis infections, which in a significant percentage were fatal, have now been eradicated or are completely controllable through systematic childhood and population vaccination. “Although vaccination only became systematic and organized by government agencies, vaccination has a long history, long before we understood the mechanisms by which it works or discovered viruses as the cause of disease,” the book says.

The associate professor adds that “there is no doubt that to a large extent the current lifestyle and many of the things we take for granted are due to vaccines, which in addition to viruses, also prevent bacteria. Historically, the contribution of viruses to the development of vaccines and the understanding of immunity has been catalytic and has helped to drastically change the rules of the “game” between humans and pathogens, to the point that humans now have more control over themselves. themselves. fate than ever before.”

To end… alarm for COVID-19-19

“For the course of the pandemic in the future, the surest element is one thing: that the virus is here to stay and will probably be with us for hundreds of years. As I write these lines (January 2023), the Covid-19 pandemic has largely faded from global consciousness, at least as scaremongering.In my personal opinion, the latest “hyped attempts to revive the horror of covid-19” by social media influencers consist of naming emerging variants of the coronavirus with confusing names such as Centaur, Kraken or Orthros At the moment, we do not see the “apocalyptic” scenarios of “tsunami” waves and pressure on the Health system being verified, without being able to rule out an extremely improbable event. The most unlikely scenario The stabilization of the transmissibility of the virus at predictable levels with low and fully manageable pressure on the health system remains probable. We are therefore heading towards exiting the emergency situation of the pandemic”, writes Mr. Majorkinis.

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