The Philippines had the third lowest number of deaths per 100,000 population among 31 countries hit by the pandemic, according to a presentation by Dr. Hitoshi Oshitani of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, a co-organizer of the symposium.
Oshitani warned that governments and societies cannot afford to relax now. The history of past pandemics showed that they occurred with irregular intervals of 30 to 40 years, but if “pseudo-pandemics” will be included in the count, that would mean more frequent intervals of 11 to 18 years.
He reminded that the H5N1 influenza virus that spread in 2004 to 2008 is “still circulating” in certain bird species “and causing sporadic human cases.”
He said pandemic threats could come from H5N1 and 4 other subtypes of the swine and avian flu viruses (H9N2, H2N2, H2N1, and H7N7). “The next pandemic can be more virulent,” Oshitani warned.
Oshitani noted that “there were still many gaps” in responses to the pandemic, among them the unavailability of vaccines when the virus arrived and spread.
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