The latest report released by World Health Organization (WHO) has attracted attention.
May 24 local timeAmebaslotAccording to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 13 million people have died as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic in more than two years, and the pandemic has "erased nearly a decade" of progress in increasing life expectancy. Between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.Amebaslot.8 years old, down to 71Amebaslot.4 years old, has returned to the 2012 level.
Although novel coronavirus's influence on most countries around the world is weakening, the spread of the virus has not stopped. It is worth noting that novel coronavirus is still mutating. At present, COVID-19 mutant KP.2 and KP.1.1 are rapidly spreading in the United States, Canada, Germany, Singapore and other countries, and have occupied a dominant position.
Some epidemiologists have pointed out that the latest variation of KP.2 suggests that it may be better at avoiding the body's immune system. According to the preprint published by the Japanese research team in Biorxiv, KP.2 was also found in the United Kingdom. The effective reproduction number of KP.2 in the United States, Britain and Canada was 1.22,1.32 and 1.26 times higher than that of COVID-19 mutant JN.1, respectively.
World Health Organization (WHO) 's latest release
According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 24th local time, an estimated 13 million people have died as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic in more than two years, a pandemic that has become the leading cause of death in many areas and reversed the trend of steady increase in global life expectancy.
The COVID-19 epidemic became the third leading cause of death in the world in 2020 and rose to second in 2021, according to the report. With the exception of Africa and the western Pacific, the COVID-19 epidemic ranks among the top five causes of death in all parts of the world.
World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that in just two years, the pandemic has "erased nearly a decade" of progress in increasing life expectancy. Between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years to 71.4 years, returning to 2012 levels.
The Americas and Southeast Asia are the worst affected, with life expectancy falling by about 3 years between 2019 and 2021, according to the report. At the same time, World Health Organization (WHO) said the western Pacific region was "least affected" in the first two years of the pandemic.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tan Desai said: "AmebaslotWe must remember how fragile human progress is in terms of health and longevity. In just two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed the efforts and achievements of the past decade. "
He stressed that it is therefore necessary not only to strengthen global health security, but also to protect long-term investment in health and promote equity within and between countries.
The COVID-19 epidemic first appeared at the end of 2019 and rapidly developed into the largest epidemic in nearly a century. The medical journal the Lancet has previously said that the death toll related to the COVID-19 epidemic could be as high as 18 million.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) 's latest report, before the pandemic, non-communicable diseases were the biggest killers, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia and diabetes, accounting for 74 per cent of all deaths in 2019.
In addition, World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the world is also facing a growing problem of obesity and malnutrition. In 2022, more than 1 billion people aged five and over are obese, while more than half a billion people are malnourished. Children are also severely malnourished, with 148 million children under the age of five stunted.
World Health Organization (WHO) said that despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic, the world has made some progress in achieving the "three billion" goals for sustainable development and health-related targets. The "three billion" targets are: an additional 1 billion people will benefit from universal health coverage; 1 billion people will be better protected in the face of health emergencies; and 1 billion people will be able to improve their health and well-being.
New mutants attack
Although novel coronavirus's influence on most countries around the world is weakening, the spread of the virus has not stopped.
It is worth noting that novel coronavirus is still mutating. At present, COVID-19 mutants KP.2 and KP.1.1 are spreading in many countries, and quickly occupy a dominant position.
In the United States, the KP.2 mutant has surpassed JN.1 to become the most popular new crown variant in the United States. In the two weeks to May 11, the virus accounted for 28.2% of all cases in the United States. Us media reported that in June this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccine Advisory Committee will discuss the proposed variant combination of COVID-19 vaccine this winter.
In Canada, the number of cases infected with KP.2 currently accounts for 26.6% of all COVID-19 cases in the country, surpassing other subvarieties of JN.1.
In Germany, the prevalence of KP.2 reached 25% in the samples tested in the 18th week of 2024 (April 29 to May 5), compared with 4.17% in the previous week.
In Singapore, more than 2/3 of cases are currently caused by KP.2 and KP.1 variants. This has also led to a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in Singapore. The estimated number of COVID-19 cases rose sharply to 25900 in the week from May 5 to 11, up 89.1% from the previous week, the Ministry of Health in Singapore said. Singapore's Ministry of Health predicts that the epidemic will peak between mid-June and the end of June this year.
In early May this year, WHO listed KP.2 as a mutant to be monitored, suggesting that it may replace JN.1 to become the main epidemic variant in the world.
According to Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, KP.2 is a descendant of JN.1, JN.1 is the dominant strain around the world, and KP.2 has additional variants in spike proteins.
According to the New York Times, local doctors point out that the nuances of KP.2 spike protein, which may make it better at avoiding the human immune defense system, are slightly more contagious than JN.1.
Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease expert, pointed out that the latest variation of KP.2 suggests that it may be better at avoiding the body's immune system, potentially indicating a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.
KP.2 is also found in the UK, according to a preprint published by the Japanese research team on Biorxiv, which focuses on the virological characteristics of the variant. The team found that the number of effective reproduction of KP.2 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada was 1.22,1.32 and 1.26 times that of JN.1, respectively.
(article source: brokerage China)