September 23, 2024- Among most global healthcare stakeholders, tomorrow’s outbreak (or pandemic) isn’t a matter of if – but when, and what. It’s even got an ominous name – Disease X. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Disease X is a placeholder concept that refers to a pandemic pathogen that has not yet been characterized. “Its purpose is to encourage proactive thinking about pathogens that could cause a pandemic,” the school states. “It represents a way to push people’s thinking forward so that they’re not wedded to lists of prior pandemic pathogens, like influenza.”
U.S. healthcare providers, and the distributors and manufacturers who supply them, aren’t taking the threat lightly. In the following two-part series, Repertoire Magazines highlights how the med/surg community is working with customers on their plans, inventory, and contingencies in the event of another outbreak or pandemic.