Contagion trata de una posibilidad muy real: una pandemia mundial. Se centra en como esta enfermedad llamada MEV-1 emerge y se convierte en una pandemia. Primero surgió en una ubicación remota en China, fue llevado a Hong Kong por personas infectadas, y terminó extendiéndose a nivel mundial, de Hong Kong vía los viajeros aéreos. El virus MEV-1 se transmite de persona a persona mediante gotas en el aire producidas por estornudos o tos, así como por virus depositados en fómites, por ejemplo, cerraduras, maní, utensilios compartidos, y así sucesivamente. Los síntomas presentados por las víctimas en la película son fiebre, tos, dolor de cabeza, malestar general y, como un preludio a la muerte, espuma alrededor de la boca. En escala, MEV-1 conduce a una pandemia que mata a millones en todo el mundo.
En la línea de argumento pandémica primero encontramos a Beth de regreso a su casa luego de un viaje de negocios que realizo en Hong Kong, donde fue inconscientemente infectada con el virus MEV-1. Tosiendo y cansada, Beth transmite el virus a la gente que resulta haber estado cercana a ella. Una vez de vuelta a Minneapolis, su salud disminuye notablemente. Cuatro días después de que ella contrae el virus, Beth tiene convulsiones, espumosa en la boca y muere, pero no sin antes haber infectado fatalmente a su hijo Clark, quien inclusive termina propagando el virus en su escuela. Durante la autopsia de Beth (sólo seis días después de que se infectó) un patólogo observa signos altamente sospechosos en la encefalitis y envía las muestras de tejido cerebral a los CDC en Atlanta. Por Estimado de estos profesionales de los centros para el Control y prevención de enfermedades (CDC) y la Organización Mundial de la salud (OMS) la existencia del virus ...
... middle of paper ...
... primero en ser capaz de crecer el virus en cultivo celular, permitiendo que una vacuna se realizara.
Contagion vívidamente presenta el peor escenario de una pandemia y los estragos que puede causar. Sin embargo, la película tiene valor educativo: dramatiza muchos interrogantes éticos, prácticos y sociológicos que provechosamente pueden ser planteados y discutidos en la salud pública. La película también da una idea aproximada de lo que podía esperarse al público en general de la salud pública y las comunidades médicas en tiempos de crisis extrema. En el análisis final, encontré la representación de una pandemia global causada por un patógeno virulento bastante apasionante, pero me sentí decepcionada por su cuestionable representación de vacunología, la falta de evolución de la salud pública internacional y tratamiento superficial de las prácticas de salud pública.
[1, 4, 5, 9, 13] There have been no documented cases where a human has contracted the disease from another human. [4] It appears, based on field and lab data, that infection requires direct contact with the virus through means such as contact with infective bodily secretions, urine, or tissues. [12] It is unknown to scientists how the virus can be maintained in the bat populations and avoids extinction as the host species becomes immune to its presence. [14] The incubation period from time of infection to the onset of symptoms is about 5-14 days in experimentally induced animals [4] and 8-14 days in natural field cases.
The medical field is a vast land of beauty but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife. The viruses are spread in many different ways in the novel, but all are due to human mistakes.
The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear written by Seth Mnookin offers something for all potential readers. For those who are anti-vaccine, Mnookin offers valid science, testimony, history, and excerpts that demonstrate that vaccinating a child can be more beneficial than not. Instead of simply dismissing those who do not vaccinate their children, Mnookin offers valid points to counter argue in this debate. Mnookin offers thought, logic, reasoning, and research into his arguments, showing that his opinion is rooted in fact, rather than opinion or belief. Those who are on the fence about vaccination may find this book useful in that Mnookin not only offers plenty valid points about pro-vaccination, however, he also provides
This virus searches for a new vulnerable host in order to survive and carry the disease to the next victim. The critical aspect around the spread of a virus is how drastically the reproduction process occurs. Without being controlled, the contamination throughout any species causes the spread to take place in a toxic way, “On day one, there were two people. And then, four, and then, sixteen. In three months, it’s a billion.
Almost no one on Earth has any immunity at all to this virus, which makes ordinary vaccines useless against it. The sudden spread of the virus into Europe foreshadows an epidemic development that could be worldwide. Ultimately, there is no way to protect ourselves against epidemics. They will keep disappearing and coming back in new forms.
By searching for the causative agent of infectious disease the focus can then be shifted into discovering preventative and treatment of the disease. Examples of this process are the outbreak of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). As published by McEwen & Wills (2011), BSE was identified as a protein transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated meat. Prevention and interventions were created as a result of the discovery of the protein. Comparably, AIDS, was first identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September of 1982, however, months passed before the causative agent was deemed a retrovirus later to be determined the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Even before the virus was isolated methods of transmission was recognized and interventions were acknowledged (McEwen & Wills, 2011).
International public health policies attempt to reform the social and political systems which influence the health and safety of all citizens of the world. In the past, these policies have been created through the strong reliance on and exploitation of socially constructed systems of classification such as gender, sexuality, nationality, and economic class. It has been a system of correlation between the behaviors which seem prevalent within social groupings and chances that those behaviors will lead to disease transmition or infestation. In January 2004, the World Health Organization announced a radical change in their policies surrounding public health study and prevention in the 2004 World Report on violence and health. Instead of focusing on larger global and national trends, the WHO called for an expansion of policies and increase of resources which focused more on the experiences and support of individuals rather than groups. This value of individual experience holds extreme promise in the expansion and effectiveness of public health initiatives as well has changes many societal systems of classifications. However, there may be detrimental effects of this change that exploit the very subjects that they attempt to help. It is a question of forcing the private experience of disease into a public domain. Where are the lines of public verses private drawn?
A pandemic is an outbreak of an infectious disease that spreads through human populations across a large region, whether that be multiple continents or worldwide. In order to be considered a pandemic, a disease must cross international boundaries and be contagious or infectious. Pandemics are usually caused by a new virus strain that humans have either very little or no immunity against. This contagious virus spreads easily from person to person, through direct contact or coughing and sneezing. A serious illness is caused worldwide from the virus, wiping out entire populations. Some of the deadliest pandemics include the Black Death, the Spanish influenza, and the second cholera pandemic.
In this paper I plan on focusing on a public health epidemic that is taking over the U.S.
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
Hvistendahl, M, Cohen, J et. al. 2013. ‘New Flu Virus in China Worries and Confuses’ Science 340: 129-130
Thesis Statement: The deadly virus Ebola is killing thousands of innocent people world wide, but there are some simple steps that are being taken to prevent this coming tide of death.
Marburg virus belongs to the genus Marburgvirus in the family Filoviridae, and causes a grave hemorrhagic fever, known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF), in twain humans and nonhuman primates. Basic Safety measures for medical personnel and others who are taking care of presumed individuals who may be contaminated with Marburg disease. Marburg Virus, Akin to the more widely known Ebola hemorrhagic fever, MHF is portrayed by systemic viral replication, lowering the body’s normal immune response to invasion by foreign substances and abnormal inflammatory responses. Ebola and Marburg Virus are very similar in many ways Marburg virus was introduced first in the 1960’s. These pathological features of the disease subsidize to a numerous of systemic dysfunctions including
Education is the core of humanity and its teaching has been mistreated. Based on Paulo Freire’s theory, education has been torn apart from its truthful purpose. It is now used to alienate human beings instead of promoting unity. Throughout this chapter, Chapter 2 in Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he concentrates in the teacher-student relationship in classrooms. He sees education as information that is being passed on or “banked” from teachers to students. This is what Freire refers to his concept of “banking education”. He also introduces numerous examples and other diverse concepts in his philosophy; for example, his proposition to confront the “banking” concept, the problem-posing education. Therefore, there is no need to search any further for what Paulo Freire illustrates as evident. Education is in crisis and it is up to the people in society to decide if they want to change it or not. Dropouts, illiteracy, violence and drug abuse in schools are some of the realistic reasons that prove the poverty of educational systems. Our society can benefit from Paulo Freire’s philosophy of education because the proposal he presents, problem-solving education, allows Puertorricans of all social classes to develop certain critical abilities which could, at any time, be used to defend themselves in any kind of social, political, or cultural environment. A method based on identifying, analyzing and taking action upon all kind of problems has to be developed in order to become liberated.
In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.