Hey Everyone!!
I watched the National Geographic series, The Hot Zone, a couple months ago. I had read the book when I was a kid along with another book by the same author, The Demon in the Freezer. And I'll get it out of the way, as good as the series was, the book was better. But watching the series reminded me of something I wrote a couple of years ago when there was a lot of speculation in the news about the healthcare legislation the Republicans were so ashamed of that they had to hide it from the American people for weeks. It occurred to me at the time that, in this country, we have set up the perfect set of circumstances to ensure that the next time a dangerous pathogen pops up, it will turn into a runaway epidemic virtually overnight.
There are millions of people with no health insurance, and millions more with such shoddy insurance that they might as well have no insurance. And all those people probably won't go to the doctor when they get sick. Because who wants to bankrupt themselves to be told they have the flu, drink plenty of liquids and stay in bed? Especially when staying home from work isn't an option if they want to keep their jobs. Because those tend to be the same people who have little to no sick time and bosses who are anything but understanding when it comes to illness. So they'll likely go to work anyway. And their jobs probably either involve direct contact with the public or working in a closely-packed cubicle environment, possibly even sharing a desk with one or more co-workers. All of which will give the pathogen plenty of opportunities to spread.
And, remember, once those sick people start making their way to emergency rooms, no one will know what's going on, at first. I've worked in a hospital laboratory; I've seen first-hand how often sanitary procedures are neglected by overworked, under-staffed hospital personnel when handling specimens that contain biohazardous material. After all, if you're an ER nurse and your patient is bleeding out, and the doctor is screaming for test results, are you going to take the few extra seconds to check to make absolutely sure the specimen container is properly closed and sealed in a plastic bag before sending it through the pneumatic tube system? Every single time? Even after you've worked your fifth 14-hour shift in a row on your feet the whole time? All it takes is one mistake where infectious material leaks and becomes aerosolized. And, again, no one will know what they're dealing with at the beginning.
Then there are all the cuts in budgets for government agencies and the appointment of people whose only goals are to dismantle the agencies they've been put in charge of. Something the current administration excels at and has made a habit of. So, any efforts by public health personnel to institute containment protocols will be severely understaffed and underfunded, and will also lack competent leadership and direction.
Periodic outbreaks of disease are inevitable. Microorganisms evolve constantly and, eventually, something will manifest that is dangerous to human beings. The first few days, weeks, and months in dealing with an emerging infection are crucial in determining whether or not it can be contained. Proper monitoring, which health professionals are a big part of, and swift and effective mobilization of resources can be the difference between a handful of cases and a pandemic.
No one can predict what the next deadly outbreak will be caused by. It could be something as familiar to us as a particularly virulent strain of influenza, something known but uncommon like ebola virus, something that makes its way into new territory thanks to climate change expanding the territory of a vector species like hemorrhagic dengue fever, or something we've never seen before. But what should be obvious to everyone is that, right now, we have such a perfect storm situation for a public health disaster that it almost sounds like the plot for a movie or a book. If it wasn't so terrifying it would be hilarious.
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