Extra Credit Blog: Contagion

 I had originally seen this movie when it first came out several years ago; now having watched it with a new understanding of epidemiology and how public health organizations work, it was intriguing to see how “Contagion” could become a reality.  Just as we learned about the epidemiological triangle the 3 elements of this movie are the MEV-I virus, the host being people (however it originally came from bats), and the environment of being mostly in densely populated areas because it spreads easily via fomites and airborne. You certainly see in this movie how there is a web of causation and as things progress in the plot line how it all interrelates. I would believe this this movie to portray analytical epidemiology because they are trying to analyze the virus, draw hypotheses of where it came from, how it works, and how to fix this problem with experimentation.

 I really thought the movie had an interesting plot line and a lot of realistic information; therefore, I would give this movie a 4 star rating. I thought it a very realistic approach in the chain reaction of different agencies get involved starting with the Minnesota Department of Health,  progressing to the CDC and WHO  monitoring all the different incidence of new cases that started to occur. Finally it ended up to the point where there was involvement of FEMA and federal agencies of other countries. I think it had very accurate information regarding expertise of the public health workers and their struggles. For example Kate Winslet’s character, Dr. Erin Mears, was trying to describe the seriousness of the spread in regards to the virus’s incubation period. The agency was very skeptical, but for a good reason. They did not want to cause panic and chaos like in the case of the H1NI virus. They had been very cautious in the H1N1 case, however little really happened. However, as Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) brilliantly said it is better to be more prepared or expect the worst then have many people die because they did not take it seriously enough action. Although the reaction of the regular town’s people may have been overdramatized due the fact it being a film, I would expect something of this magnitude and pandemic to occur, there would most certainly be this type of fear and panic. Finally it did a great job of showing how it is the public health role of vaccines, inoculation, and even though not shown, air, water, and environmental testing.

Overall it was really enjoyable movie now having a grasp of the disease process and types of disaster planning with public health involvement. And if there is anything important we can get form this film, let us at least see the importance of WASHING OUR HANDS!!!!...for my sake and yours!!