What If We Had a Worldwide Superbug Pandemic?

WHAT IF

Could we be experiencing a global pandemic soon?

Transcript

00:00 (cough)

00:02 It starts with a simple cough.

00:04 (cough)

00:04 And before you know it,

00:07 millions of people are infected.

00:10 And it won't stop there.

00:12 It could keep growing and growing,

00:15 until billions of people are sick,

00:18 flights are canceled,

00:19 cities are quarantined,

00:21 and hospitals are flooded with patients.

00:25 This is what's known as a global pandemic.

00:29 Could we experience something like this?

00:32 A worldwide pandemic like this

00:52 wouldn't be new to the human race.

00:54 It happened in 1918,

00:56 and was known as the Spanish Flu.

00:59 It infected about one-third of the global population,

01:03 and killed an estimated 50 million people.

01:07 So before we start completely freaking out

01:10 about the end of the world,

01:12 you can take a bit of comfort in knowing

01:14 this most likely doesn't mean the end of civilization.

01:17 But that doesn't mean there won't be consequences.

01:22 Before we get to what might happen,

01:24 how does a pandemic start anyway?

01:27 Well, widely spread epidemics in the past,

01:29 like the Spanish Flu,

01:31 as well as SARS in 2003,

01:33 began with a strain of influenza,

01:36 or the flu.

01:38 Now, there are two main types of influenza.

01:40 Type A,

01:42 which typically comes from animals,

01:43 including birds, cats, pigs, and horses.

01:47 And type B viruses,

01:49 which are only common among humans.

01:52 The symptoms of a virus like this

01:54 are things we've all experienced.

01:57 Runny nose, fever, headache,

01:59 and just general cold symptoms.

02:02 But in other cases,

02:03 influenza can also result in respiratory issues,

02:07 kidney failure, or even death.

02:11 But keep in mind,

02:12 those aren't guaranteed to happen.

02:14 A disease like this could infect

02:16 over 2.5 billion people.

02:19 Why so many?

02:20 Well, the main thing about these influenza strains

02:24 is that they can be carried through the air.

02:26 If someone has it,

02:28 and breathes in your direction,

02:30 you could breathe in microscopic water droplets

02:33 carrying the virus.

02:35 Or if you touch a surface that has the virus on it,

02:37 and then touch your face,

02:39 you could also catch the disease.

02:41 You might not even feel the symptoms

02:43 of influenza right away.

02:45 It could take a few hours,

02:46 or even up to two weeks.

02:49 This means you could be interacting with people as usual,

02:52 and unknowingly be infecting them.

02:55 And today,

02:56 the world is a lot different than it was

02:58 during 1918's Spanish flu.

03:01 In addition to the world's population being much higher,

03:04 we also live very differently.

03:07 Cities are more dense,

03:09 with places like Mumbai

03:10 having over 76,000 people per square mile.

03:14 With people living closer together,

03:16 it means we can infect each other more easily.

03:19 Not only that, but

03:20 we travel the world with ease now.

03:23 People who unknowingly carry a virus

03:25 can quickly bring it to the other side of the world.

03:29 If this new virus were to spread to just a single person,

03:33 who spread it to another single person,

03:35 and another,

03:36 and another,

03:37 as time went on,

03:39 it would eventually infect millions.

03:42 As people got infected,

03:43 planes would be grounded,

03:45 and entire countries could be quarantined.

03:48 If it got bad enough,

03:49 we might not even be able to leave our homes

03:52 due to the risk of infecting people,

03:54 or getting infected ourselves.

03:56 Getting help at a hospital could be difficult too.

04:00 With billions of people infected,

04:02 it's unlikely hospitals would be able to care for everyone.

04:06 If we're dealing with a pandemic

04:07 that spreads the same way as the Spanish flu did,

04:11 we could anticipate anywhere between

04:12 200 to 425 million deaths.

04:17 And that's out of the approximately

04:18 2.5 billion people who would be infected.

04:22 But how likely is it

04:24 that a scenario like this will happen?

04:26 Well, it's hard to say.

04:28 Experts say that humanity is due for a massive pandemic.

04:32 It happened 100 years ago with the Spanish flu,

04:36 and before that,

04:37 with the bubonic plague in 1347.

04:40 Unfortunately, pandemics like these

04:43 are just a reality of human civilization.

04:46 But that doesn't mean a pandemic today

04:49 would be as bad as the Spanish flu.

04:52 Although the disease might spread

04:53 more efficiently than ever before,

04:56 it also might be easier than ever to cure it.

04:59 Although a pandemic implies

05:00 that you'll have little immunity to it,

05:03 doctors could develop a vaccine for it.

05:06 Today, with increased technology and communication

05:10 it could be more seamless than ever.

05:12 The world's scientists could work together.

05:15 You could have doctors in New York

05:17 talking with researchers in China,

05:19 trying to solve a pandemic.

05:21 It definitely wouldn't be easy,

05:23 and could take up to a year,

05:25 but eventually, a vaccine could be invented.

05:29 The next issue would be how it gets distributed.

05:32 If countries aren't willing to work together

05:35 and distribute the vaccines fairly,

05:37 it could cause some serious conflict.

05:40 But assuming they all do work together,

05:43 it could eventually stop the pandemic.

05:46 Hopefully, something like this

05:47 won't happen in the first place.

05:49 After all, we're now better at monitoring animals

05:53 and their diseases than ever before.

05:55 And by knowing the consequences of a real pandemic,

05:59 hopefully we can stop the spread of infections

06:01 before they go any further.

06:04 So how can you avoid something like this?

06:07 According to health experts,

06:09 the rules are pretty simple.

06:11 Similar to avoiding the common cold,

06:13 you should wash your hands a lot,

06:15 and keep away from people coughing and sneezing.

06:18 And if you're feeling sick,

06:20 you should definitely see a doctor right away.

06:23 Also, would you please cough or sneeze

06:26 into a tissue or an elbow?

06:29 So although everybody doesn't have to die in this scenario,

06:33 it would have a severe impact on people.

06:37 And if the world isn't willing to work

06:39 and cooperate together,

06:41 the realities of a new pandemic could be pretty grim.

06:45 Want to know something that isn't so grim?

06:48 How about traveling to Mars?

06:51 Well, we'll leave that story for another WHAT IF.

06:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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