The Looming Threat of Disease X: Healthcare Preparedness for the Next Pandemic.

 Healthcare workers are now preparing for the prospect of a new pandemic known as Disease X as the Covid-19 pandemic is coming to an end.

The next pandemic might result in up to 50 million deaths, according to Kate Bingham, the chair of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce. She claims that Covid-19, in contrast, wasn't as dangerous, and speculates that it might already be underway. The World Health Organization (WHO) has given this impending danger the official designation of "Disease X," and according to Bingham, it may be up to 20 times more deadly than Coronavirus. "The world will need to get ready for mass vaccination campaigns and administer the vaccines with unprecedented speed," she told the Daily Mail.

Consider a disease X that is as contagious as measles but with a 67% fatality rate. It's reproducing somewhere in the world, and eventually, someone will become ill. 

According to Dame Kate Bingham, there are millions of additional viruses that have not yet been discovered, even though researchers have identified 25 virus families that contain thousands of distinct viruses.

Healthcare professionals are now on high alert as a result of this worrying trend. While Covid-19 and its variations continue to pose health risks, they have drawn attention to Disease X's impending threat. Medical professionals issue a warning that this new virus has the potential to be just as deadly as the Spanish Flu.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) According to Dr. Neha Rastogi, Consultant in Infectious Disease at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, "Disease X refers to a pathogen—known or potentially unknown—that can cause a large-scale, severe pandemic leading to widespread human disease."

What Is Illness X?

'Disease X is presumably caused by 'pathogen X.' It might be connected to a zoonotic disease, possibly an RNA virus, arising from a setting where epidemiological conditions support prolonged transmission. According to Dr. Rastogi, these zoonotic pathogens that are developing or re-emerging are categorized as X and pose a serious hazard that necessitates strict and continuous active surveillance and monitoring.