What's media's role? Education or Entertainment

The media has such skewed views on the issues around the world. I took Dr. Wallis' suggestion in class on Monday and decided to pick up a newspaper and watch a little news that night. Besides the fact that media, especially the news has desensitized many people because of all the horrible things happening in the world, it also magnifies many issues. In order to get the viewers attention and keep them watching, the media sometimes educates the public with inflated numbers and distorted facts. While watching the news, I realized the reporters talked about more negativity than positivity. When talking about research or ongoing studies, the reporters highlighted the setbacks instead of discussing the positive aspects and what they have found. For example, they will highlight the flu shot, but then talk about the amount of people that have gotten sick and not the majority who received the shot and were fine. Unfortunately, I have come to terms with the fact that some viewers do not like happy endings, but instead find interest in more traumatic events. In epidemiology, I like learning about real facts and numbers. No one has added extra "fluff" to the studies and research to make it more appealing. It's just real data. The study of epidemiology is interesting because their are so many different applications. I look forward to our next guest speaker via Skype. I believe listening to guest speakers will allow for a better understanding of how epidemiology has many different outlets. I still hope to one day be able to travel around the world and if I become an epidemiologist I will be able to travel as part of my job (hopefully). After looking at the media, I see it in a totally different light. I now know to take every bit with a grain of salt!

Epidemiology Around The Globe

At JMU, students are usually within their own bubbles. I have been at this school for almost four years and just last week went downtown to sight see. Harrisonburg is said to be a diverse community, but I have never gone outside my comfort zone to be able to see how diverse and beautiful the area really is. After listening to Alexandru Coman, I realized how vast epidemiology really is! His study in the delta with domestic birds was fascinating. I hope the human population in Romania or surrounding areas do not become affected by the fowl. Thank goodness Dr. Coman said the possibility of the virus being transmitted from the birds to the human population was very unlikely! So I'm not exactly a world traveler. I have never been outside of the country and never pay much attention to international affairs, but listening to Dr. Coman and his study of influenza in Romania, I was intrigued. I'm beginning to understand epidemiology has so many outlets and can be applied to different aspects around the world. I really enjoyed hearing about the new psychiatric hospital being built and how it will be much better for the patients than the old, crowded hospital. I thought having a guest speaker from another country was very cool and I hope we have many more in the coming semester! Listening to others experiences allows for a better understanding of the subject and I like to see how epidemiology relates.
I hope one day I will be able to travel the world and see different cultures. I would love to study abroad one semester or even summer and see how epidemiology is used throughout the world. After graduation, I want to break out of the JMU bubble and experience things outside of my own comfort zone. I'm going to need a good, firm push and a lot of luck!

Blog 2

The unknown in the world spikes curiosity but also fear. Many individuals are frightened by questions that cannot be answered and the occurrence of unpredictable events, but I want to be able to help discover those answers. In 1918, no one was prepared nor imagined the influenza pandemic. Influenza killed several million people in various areas, among different age groups, and throughout a variety of cultures. The lack of technology and modern medicine in the early 1900s allowed the virus to have such high mortality rates. No one knew how to stop or even control influenza. Good nursing care was the best remedy for the infected because medicine was not an option. The influenza virus is much more severe than the common seasonal flu. Influenza symptoms last for two weeks or longer and include high fever, fatigue, dry cough, and headaches. The common flu usually affects the very young and very old, whereas influenza in 1918 affected many young adults. In 2013, even with the advancement of technology and ongoing research, the virus is still unpredictable. It is now known, that the virus can be transmitted through airborne droplets, hand contact, or contact with a contaminated surface. Healthcare professionals, public health educators, and epidemiologists are continuously working together to understand unpredictable illnesses, like influenza and other unanswered questions about health and disease to better prepare the public for future events. As a newcomer to epidemiology, I am fascinated by the ever changing field of healthcare and disease. I learned in a previous class on infectious diseases, as our technology advances, more complex viruses and diseases began to emerge. It is worrisome to imagine a future pandemic or epidemic could strike the United States like the influenza of 1918, but as the field of epidemiology continues to grow we can keep up with the ever changing world of health.
See you next Wednesday and remember to always wash your hands!

Blog 1

Contagion is a realistic event that I believe could actually occur. Technology is advancing every day, but infectious diseases are evolving quickly as well. I believe there will always be an ongoing arms race between technology and disease findings. The government does its best to protect its citizens, but sometimes it seems as if they are misleading the public and not providing people with accurate information. I believe the government holds information from the public for fear of how they will interpret it and because of privacy conflicts. In the film, the public began to riot and become violent as the unknown disease began to kill many more. The public was not receiving much accurate information from the government and the media, which was increasing their fears. In the end, the route of transmission given to the first victim seemed so simple. The transmission began with bats, then to pigs, and finally from the Chef's unwashed hands to the first victim. This route of transmission happens every day. Surprisingly, I believe many people working in restaurants and food establishments do not wash their hands and it is pure luck we do not end up contracting such infectious diseases. It is not unrealistic for an epidemic like Contagion to happen in the future. After watching the movie, I think more about disease transmission and all of the ways individuals can contract pathogens from each other, from handrails to sink faucets to airborne particles after sneezing. I did enjoy how Contagion had many realistic ideas and topics. However, I disliked the ending. It was a cliffhanger and I would have enjoyed a few follow up scenes with the World Health Organization investigator and the Chinese village. I would have been curious to see if the investigator revealed to the village that the vaccines were placebos and the village's reaction to the news. See you next Wednesday for more blogging on epidemiology!