Antonio Sarría: "The covid virus mutates, we have not defeated it yet"

The scientist from Zaragoza, a world reference, carries out his work in Kazakhstan.

El Fernando Simon from Kazakhstan was born in Zaragoza. Antonio Sarría is a professor of Public Health at the Nazarbayev University School of Medicine.

Kazakhstan continues to offer low rates of deaths and infections from covid.

The factor of counting cases must be considered. In the United States, it is much more reliable than in other countries. There are other factors, such as healthcare. There are countries, like Spain, that were overwhelmed in the first phases, but in the following waves they have improved significantly. Today, a covid patient in Spain is very well cared for. In the United States, if you don't have money, you may not get healthcare.

And vaccination rates?

It's another factor. Paradoxically, in the United States they are lower compared to other countries, perhaps for ideological reasons.

What strategy against covid have they followed in Kazakhstan?

The development of the epidemic has been different. We are in a global world, but Kazakhstan has its peculiarities. It is a very large country (five times larger than Spain), but less populated (18 million inhabitants). You also have to consider the climate.

How does the weather affect covid?

In Kazakhstan, in Central Asia, it is very cold. We are below zero many months of the year. They don't really want to leave the house... Socialization is less than in Spain. There, there have only been three waves of infections.

In Spain we have already surfed at least seven waves…

And the three waves of contagion that I was telling you about have been in the summer. Because? Because it is when there is more contact between people because it is less cold on the street.

The indices are positive, but there is still a battle...

Of course. We first used the Russian vaccine (Sputnik) and then the Pfizer. But the covid virus evolves, mutates, we have not defeated it yet. The latest variant, the BA-5, is a 'killer'.

In Spain, the second patient has just died from monkeypox. Have there been cases there?

As of today, I don't know of any cases.

If they are not known to you, there is none. And childhood hepatitis outbreaks?

None have been registered either. If encephalitis and leishmania have occurred.

I keep wondering what you are doing there, in Nur-Sultan…

I received a good offer. After going through the University of Zaragoza, Dartmouth Medical School in the United States and the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid, I thought it was an opportunity to grow. My father, pediatrician Antonio Sarría, also trained in the United States.

What assessment do you have of Spanish healthcare?

One of the best in the world. Universal, free and cutting-edge healthcare. A patient has a better chance of surviving in Spain than in many other countries.

We have to take care of her…

Of course. It is very hard to see young doctors go to other countries, such as Sweden or Germany, which open doors to them, since a Spanish doctor is a guarantee: they are usually very well trained. In Zaragoza, for example, there are leading centers in research and treatment, such as the Miguel Servet and the Hospital Clínico.

He hasn't told me if Fernando Simón from Kazakhstan knows Fernando Simón from Spain...

Of course I know him. Even my father was a pediatrician in his family... He was very fond of CAI Zaragoza and I was very fond of Real Zaragoza.

It's true, he carries the photo of the Real Zaragoza shield on his WhatsApp...

Now I am in Madrid, in Spain. But six thousand kilometers away, it is still from Zaragoza and Real Zaragoza.

Source: Heraldo de Aragón