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Review
. 2022 Sep 30;14(10):2176.
doi: 10.3390/v14102176.

RNA Viruses, Pandemics and Anticipatory Preparedness

Affiliations
Review

RNA Viruses, Pandemics and Anticipatory Preparedness

Mariano A Garcia-Blanco et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

RNA viruses are likely to cause future pandemics and therefore we must create and organize a deep knowledge of these viruses to prevent and manage this risk. Assuming prevention will fail, at least once, we must be prepared to manage a future pandemic using all resources available. We emphasize the importance of having safe vaccine candidates and safe broad-spectrum antivirals ready for rapid clinical translation. Additionally, we must have similar tools to be ready for outbreaks of RNA viruses among animals and plants. Finally, similar coordination should be accomplished for other pathogens with pandemic potential.

Keywords: RNA viruses; anticipatory preparedness; pandemics.

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Conflict of interest statement

M.A.G-B. declares that he is the scientific cofounder and has a significant ownership stake in Emervax Inc. (Galveston, TX), which is commercializing vaccines for highly pathogenic RNA viruses with high pandemic potential.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Life expectancy in the United States 1880–2019. Shown is period life expectancy. Note the impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic (*). Taken from OurWorldInData.org/life-expectancy.

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