Warning: World will face another flu pandemic

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the world will inevitably have to face another flu pandemic and that it is necessary to prepare for the potential consequences it could cause, while not underestimating all the risks associated with the disease.

"The danger of pandemic flu always exists," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

"We must be very careful and prepared because the costs of a major flu epidemic will far exceed the amount allocated for prevention," Ghebreyesus said.

The last global flu pandemic caused by the H1N1 virus ravaged the world in 2009 and 2010. Studies have shown that every fifth person was infected during the first year of the pandemic, and the mortality rate was 0.02 percent.

There are various types of flu viruses that are constantly changing, and every year about a billion people are infected worldwide in seasonal epidemics.

Among them, there are three to five million very severe cases, which most often result in the death of between 290,000 and 650,000 infected people due to various complications associated with seasonal flu.

Vaccination helps in preventing some types of flu, which is why the WHO recommends vaccination every year.

The two main goals of the World Health Organization are to improve global surveillance capacity and rapid response.