What Is X Disease Called Can Trigger A Pandemic More Violent Than COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic is known as the first X disease. (Unsplash/Anastasiia Chepin)

JAKARTA Disease X called the World Health Organization (WHO) is becoming a public conversation. The public is worried that this X- Disease can repeat the horror of the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago.

This term was actually coined in 2018. You could say this X- Disease is not a true disease. But this term is used to translate a newly discovered pathogen or any pathogen known to have the potential for a pandemic.

But Penyakit X kembali menjadi ramai dibahas setelah WHO memperingatkan para pemimpin dunia mengenai risiko Penyakit X di masa depan dalam pertemuan tahunan Forum Ekonomi Dunia pada 15-19 Januari 2024 di Davos, Swiss.

Some people say this can cause panic. No. It's better to anticipate something that might happen because this has happened many times in our history," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

This X disease has also previously been discussed by Dr. Kenneth Iserson, professor of emergency medicine emeritus at the University of Arizona, United States, who is also a specialist in global medicine and disaster.

"The world has seen a number of new diseases that have the potential to develop into Disease X (X disease)," said Dr. Iserson, citing Kompas.

This statement was made by Dr. Iserson at the end of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still shaking the world. He predicted that COVID-19 was not the last pandemic the world would face. Dr. Iserson said, Disease X refers to the name of a placeholder who admits the possibility of a severe infectious disease that is still unknown to humans.

"There may be other unrecognized infectious diseases that are already circulating, which have devastating implications," said Dr. Iserson.

Meanwhile, citing New Scientist, Disease X is a term WHO uses to describe an unknown disease in medical science that has the potential to cause a large and serious pandemic in humans.

According to Dr. Richard Rights from the Epidemic Preparedness Innovation Coalition, X- Disease is not science fiction and must be watched out for. This term was first coined by WHO in 2018, and the COVID-19 pandemic is a real example of why the public should be wary of this X- Disease.

Although the causes and characteristics are mysterious, WHO indicates this is a big threat. According to scientists, X- Disease is predicted to be 20 times more deadly than COVID-19.

The WHO Director General said COVID-19 could be an example of the first X- Disease, because it meets the criteria as a new disease, has not been vaccinated, and has a fast transmission rate.

However, it is not known what the next X disease after COVID-19 can finally be controlled. X disease could be caused by viruses, bacteria, or other infectious genes, or even in the form of fungi. Because the characteristics are not yet known, the transmission of the X disease is still a mystery, but it is estimated that the X disease can spread quickly through the respiratory tract, similar to the way of transmitting COVID-19.

But the public can reflect on the experiences in recent years, when a global disease outbreak hit. During that time, the coronavirus had caused a number of global diseases, even before the COVID-19 outbreak hit.

In 2002, for example, the coronavirus began to spread in China which caused a form of pneumonia, which was later called SARS or a safeguard acute respiratory syndrome. SARS killed one in 10 of those infected, before the disease was finally stopped with strict infection control measures.

Then another disease that was also caused by coronavirus, namely Middle East respiratory syndrome or better known as MERS. This disease causes pneumonia that kills one in three infected people.

The good news is that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to make it easier for us to stop other X- Diseases in the future. When the world is hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of new vaccine designs is moving fast, including vaccines that can be used to target new pathogens.

But because X disease is not yet known for certainty, countries in the world need a better early warning system to anticipate the possible emergence of new diseases, one of which is the proper health that must be more capable of a surge in requests for unexpected services.