Contagion film is not far from the truth, warns virus scientist
Dr Ian Lipkin, expert who advised on Soderbergh's movie, says we must be better prepared for outbreak of deadly disease
The spread of disease is one of the most feared instances of death and sickness that people all around the world fear each day. With many bacterial drugs and medications often being used to treat rapidly spreading illnesses, we can easily contain sickness by administering these drugs on a timely basis. But what would happen if there was a super virus that we cannot stop from spreading? What if this virus spread so rapidly that large quantities of people are quickly infected? This is the topic of Director Steven Soderbergh's new movie, Contagion.
Contagon, a movie created in partnership with epidemiologists, neurologists and pathologists, highlights the effects of the reality of what would happen if a disease plagued our world with no known cure. In the movie, the main character takes a trip to Hong Kong and comes back sick; after two days, the character dies of her sickness as the virus starts rapidly infecting and killing people. For the remainder of the movie, scientists scramble rapidly to attempt to find a vaccine for the deadly virus.
This movie, sociologically, brings a frightening message of disease to the people all across the world in regards to how disease spreads. Even with advanced technology in the healthcare and scientific fields, a super virus would still end up killing many people in the duration of time that it took to create a vaccine. Although it may be a potential threat to countries of superior research, it would create catastrophic effect on 3rd world countries with less access to technology.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/22/contagion-film-truth-viral-pandemic
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