Madison Fairchild
Mrs. Bartlett
Medical Career Foundations
21 October, 13
Contagion Summary
Contagion's plot documents the spread of a virus transmitted by fomites, attempts by medical researchers and public health officials to identify and contain the disease, the loss of social order in a pandemic, and finally the introduction of a vaccine to halt its spread. Contagion included actual organizations, procedures, and actions that would be taken in real life making it a realistic film. It explained how vaccines were developed, how you track viruses that are spreading, and how you stop pandemics from occurring.
The cycle of infection starts with someone contracting the virus. During the period of contagiousness the patient will come in contact with many surfaces and people thus spreading the disease. The newly infected will spread the virus further to others who will spread it even further and so on. This is dangerous due to the fact that once the number of sick is large enough the number of options that eliminate the virus and begin to heal people will drop.
Infection control is important if there is a possible pandemic breaking out because it reduces the number of people who could get sick and die. In Contagion the military was used to block of entrances and exits to cities by roadways. The World Health Organization communicated between countries and continents about the spread of the virus on a global scale. They had also raised funding for research pertaining to understanding the virus and developing a treatment for it. The Center for Disease Control also searched for a vaccine and researched the way the virus was spreading. They investigated where the virus was first contracted then worked on who had possible contact with patient zero since then.
Asepsis is the state of being free from disease causing contaminants. In Contagion Mitch was put into a quarantined room to be observed for symptoms of the virus. Upon discovering his immunity to the...