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Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/68...istan-puzzles-health-experts-and-policymakers
M. Waqar Bhatti
July 16, 2020
‘Unexplained decline in COVID-19 cases’ in Pakistan puzzles health experts and policymakers
The presence of a kind of “non-specific immunity” that is unique to the Pakistani people due to multiple exposures to various vaccines, including BCG and Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), high humidity in the current monsoon season and a low transmission rate in the peak summer season could be some of the factors slowing down the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, health experts and officials told The News on Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that the percentage of COVID-19 positive cases, the number of hospitalised patients and deaths have been declining in Pakistan since the start of July 2020. As far as the reason behind this decrease in cases is concerned, it could mainly be due to the presence of a non-specific immunity that is unique to Pakistanis due to multiple exposure of various vaccines, highly humid weather and low transmission season of respiratory illnesses in the peak summer,” opined Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, a leading epidemiologist and coordinator of the National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Islamabad. Several other leading infectious diseases’ experts and officials also conceded that the percentage of COVID-19 cases had been declining since the start of July 2020 in Pakistan, but they added that nobody knew the reasons behind the slowing down of the pandemic. They said this phenomenon was also being observed in regional countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Iran, except India where positive cases and the deaths were continuously on the rise...
M. Waqar Bhatti
July 16, 2020
‘Unexplained decline in COVID-19 cases’ in Pakistan puzzles health experts and policymakers
The presence of a kind of “non-specific immunity” that is unique to the Pakistani people due to multiple exposures to various vaccines, including BCG and Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), high humidity in the current monsoon season and a low transmission rate in the peak summer season could be some of the factors slowing down the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, health experts and officials told The News on Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that the percentage of COVID-19 positive cases, the number of hospitalised patients and deaths have been declining in Pakistan since the start of July 2020. As far as the reason behind this decrease in cases is concerned, it could mainly be due to the presence of a non-specific immunity that is unique to Pakistanis due to multiple exposure of various vaccines, highly humid weather and low transmission season of respiratory illnesses in the peak summer,” opined Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, a leading epidemiologist and coordinator of the National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Islamabad. Several other leading infectious diseases’ experts and officials also conceded that the percentage of COVID-19 cases had been declining since the start of July 2020 in Pakistan, but they added that nobody knew the reasons behind the slowing down of the pandemic. They said this phenomenon was also being observed in regional countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Iran, except India where positive cases and the deaths were continuously on the rise...
