Wed, Oct 04, 2023 page8

• Better to be prepared for COVID-19 than not

  • By Hsieh Ann-ming 謝安民
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  The past year has seen frequent online reports about a resurgence of COVID-19. They might have sounded like the story of boy who cried wolf, but now there could really be a wolf on the prowl. Will packs of wolves appear this fall and winter, as happened in 2021 and last year? With alarm signals on the rise in Europe and North America, the best thing to do would be to be prepared.

  With the Internet, information is easily spread. COVID-19 has been the center of attention for three years, so it is one of the top news items. Some of the information is true, some is false, and there is also some information that was true, but is now outdated.

  Online reports might talk about how infections and hospitalizations are increasing, how the symptoms are different from before and how old tests are useless for new variants of the virus. The COVID-19 situation is continuously changing. No sooner does someone say that the situation is improving than the virus starts spreading again.

  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 12 announced that, as of Sept. 2, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations had increased each week for eight consecutive weeks. The Sept. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article titled “COVID-19 in the fall of 2023 — Forgotten but not gone.” On Monday last week, the US government resumed providing the public with free COVID-19 test kits.

  The most concerning question for the public health and medical communities is whether the epidemic will grow more severe during the fall and winter, as outbreaks of infectious respiratory diseases usually start in the fall and peak around the end of winter and beginning of spring.

  At this stage, nobody knows whether the early increase in COVID-19 cases this year means there will be a major outbreak this year. Many experts think it might not happen, because everyone has acquired some degree of immunity.

  Although a person’s antibodies start to decline three to six months after they are first formed, the body’s immune system also has other weapons, such as T-cells and other kinds of immunological memory. The second or third time that a person’s body encounters a virus, it can create antibodies and mobilize immune cells much faster and more effectively than the first time.

  Some experts believe that this year’s increase in the number of COVID-19 cases started in the summer because it was particularly hot, prompting people to stay indoors and with the air-conditioning switched on, crowded together as much as they would be in winter.

  Will you be prepared if Taiwan is struck by a new wave of COVID-19? Does the nations have sufficient stocks of disease-prevention supplies and equipment? Has the government negotiated and signed contracts for the procurement of new vaccines?

  Earlier this year, some political hacks first made a fuss about a shortage of eggs and then accused the government of importing expired eggs or colluding with profiteers. Those same politicians are likely to criticize the government again over any flaws in its epidemic preparedness.

  However, whatever the government does, it must prioritize public health and not let its actions be disrupted for fear of criticism by malicious politicians. Individuals and communities should make their own preparations for an outbreak. It is much better to make preparations that are not needed than to be unprepared.

  Taiwan has won many battles against the virus, but the war is not yet over. The nation must be prepared for every eventuality.

  Hsieh Ann-ming is a retired physician.

  Translated by Julian Clegg
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