ASSESSMENTS: CONTAGION MOVIE
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Assessment: Contagion Movie
The portrayal of an epidemiological investigation and ensuing global reaction in
the movie, Contagion seemed to me to be largely accurate (although, I have a feeling that
not everyone who works at the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control
is incredibly attractive).
An example of a facet of the investigation I perceived to be accurate was the
length of time that was required to discover, synthesize, and distribute a vaccine. I feel in
most television shows or movies (that aren‟t so medically accurate) a vaccine is created
and everyone is cured in what seems like and hour and a half.
With a disease that had such a small contraction to death window and ease of
transmission, I would assume that what we saw in Contagion (as far as a quickly
spreading pandemic) would logically follow Alan‟s exponential estimation that he
broadcast in his debate with Dr. Cheever. The MEV-1 pandemic was guaranteed to kill a
significant percentage of the population. Its backlash was unchecked by quarantine
centers, road blocks, martial law or even any public acknowledgement of its gravity until
the uninformed and frightened population panicked. This instinct toact
uncharacteristically in order to protect one‟s own, seek out supplies for long-term
survival or to just take advantage of anarchy is one that I find to be believable.
Something I didn‟t find realistic is that a doctor in the field could meet an end like
Kate Winslet‟s character. Field workers would be better protected. It is hard for me to
believe that someone working in that capacity could ever contract and die from what they
are studying.
ASSESSMENTS: CONTAGION MOVIE
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The tiny amount of cynicism inside me thinks Alan‟s conspiracy theory could be
true. It does not seem too far-fetched to think that officials could be in bed with
pharmaceutical companies.
From what I saw in Contagion, I don‟t think Dr. Cheever should be put in front of
a Congressional panel. I was not surprised, though to see it happen. I think a
governmental investigation would definitely occur in a situation similar to „Contagion,‟
no matter the outcome. People in Dr. Cheever‟s position in the real world have incredibly
hard jobs and when something like this global meltdown happens, the public needs
someone to vilify. Contagion probably scared a lot of people, but it should also make us
confident in the system we have in place and even more confident because there is a
system. I imagine in some countries, people would be left on their own or maybe even
killed instead of quarantined.
Contagion incorporates real events by referencing actual diseases the global
community has dealt with in the past such as the Spanish Flu of 1918, SARS and the
“over reaction” to H1N1 (the Swine Flu). In reference to the public meltdown, Hurricane
Katrina and the most recent Wall Street crash are used to bring context to this frenetic
situation. When discussing the MEV-1 vaccine, they reference how the polio vaccine was
a „live attenuated‟ vaccine, which means, “it uses a live, although weakened, version of
the virus.” (DelBuono, 2006, pp.7)
At the beginning of the outbreak, epidemiological evidence was collected at the
location of mysterious deaths and then by tracing patients back to the origination of the
disease. In the movie, we see doors, files, cups, peanuts, cell phones and bus handles
being touched. It becomes the job of world health leaders to track these connections (with
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ASSESSMENTS: CONTAGION MOVIE
video cameras, bank statements, plane tickets, etc.) back to the index patient; Beth Imhof
who contracts the disease from an infected pig via a chef.
When I think about if this could happen today and how the CDC would respond, I
don‟t believe it would play out like Contagion. A disease as fast acting and
communicable as MEV-1 would definitely spread quickly with all the global travel and
commerce we have today. But, it took days for the WHO, the CDC, local, state, and
federal governments to respond or even acknowledge the pandemic. If this happened
today, I don‟t think the population of America would have a chance to riot in such a way.
It wouldn‟t surprise me that officials would scurry away those important to them first, but
I think there would be roadblocks and containment within hours of something like this
happening, not days. Also, with all the statisticians and data collectors employed by the
CDC who spend all day sifting through gobs of information, it seems that a disease that
behaves in such a way would hit their radar immediately and action would be taken much
faster. In the movie, the disease is obviously notifiable and the WHO starts discussing it
early on, but it takes a few days for the global health community to get serious about
putting an end to this pandemic. I think the CDC would control an outbreak like this in a
similar fashion. An investigation would be conducted in a similar way using technology
to find the index patient and where the disease came from and a vaccine would be
frantically created. But, I think the CDC would respond faster and without any of their
people dying.
References
DelBuono, Barbara A. (2006). Milestones in Public Health. New York: Pfizer Inc.