The virus experts following WHO's new message

- There was a perception when the virus started spreading that we only saw the serious cases and that most people would be infected without noticing it, but these studies show the opposite. The total number of infected is probably much lower than we thought, said WHO's crisis management officer Michael Ryan at the World Health Organization's press conference following the corona pandemic on Monday, May 11.

These are data based on surveys that go against what was previously assumed, according to WHO.

Björn Olsen, professor of infectious diseases at Uppsala University, who has previously criticized the National Health Authority's corona strategy, believes that the new findings can have consequences.

"It shows that we still have a long way to go before we have any kind of immunity that can slow the virus's progress in society," he says.

- The famous iceberg you have talked about, where they with obvious symptoms appear on the surface but a large number of sick people without symptoms are beneath the surface, may turn out to be an iceberg that completely floats on the surface.

How much weight should you put on these new tasks?

- I think you should put a lot of weight on them. Several studies have been conducted with thousands of people throughout. It is seen that very few people have antibodies. Then it may be relevant to think about the flock immunity plan, says Björn Olsen.

Emma Frans, PhD in medical epidemiology, for her part, thinks that WHO is shabby in her statements about the new findings.

- It is difficult to know what the WHO means here. If they mean that most people have mild symptoms rather than no symptoms at all, which is what I would guess they mean, she says.

At the same time, she emphasizes that the organization does not say in which countries or when the studies on which its statements are based have been conducted.

- If it is in countries with great restrictions, it is natural that you do not find as many antibodies, she says.

At the same time, she emphasizes that the new statements will hardly change Sweden's corona strategy - but that it can worry people in Sweden.

"At the same time, one must remember that the Public Health Authority has access to the same material as WHO on which they base their decisions," she says.