Assessing and Minimizing Risk

Presenter Information

Meaghan Drees, Providence College

Location

Harkins 301

Event Website

http://www.providence.edu/hpm/Pages/Conference.aspx

Start Date

23-3-2013 11:00 AM

End Date

23-3-2013 12:15 PM

Description

Influenza outbreaks may be alarming, but they are nothing new in the 21st century. At this point, the various strains of influenza have broken into cities and homes, acted as silent killers by causing fear, death and destruction, and spreading uncontrollably. This repetitive cycle arouses the question of when people will learn how to take care of these epidemics. Well, according to Flahault and Zylberman, knowledge may not be the only factor necessary to stop influenza from disrupting lives. The authors reveal that “Influenza epidemics occur regularly and prediction of their conversion to pandemics and their impact is difficult” meaning there is no tangible definition of each strain or explanation of what it will do (319). Despite this reminder of the lack of control humans have at the viral level, there are aspects of hope that are visible from one outbreak to the next. Specifically, response to the H1N1 epidemic of 2009 was much calmer than the typical reaction to epidemics in the past. This reveals that people were able to learn from past outbreaks, such as SARS in 2003. The effectiveness of response increased in a mere six years which offers a great deal of hope for the way future outbreaks will be handled.

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Mar 23rd, 11:00 AM Mar 23rd, 12:15 PM

The Global Ability to Respond: Applying SARS Knowledge to H1N1 and Beyond

Harkins 301

Influenza outbreaks may be alarming, but they are nothing new in the 21st century. At this point, the various strains of influenza have broken into cities and homes, acted as silent killers by causing fear, death and destruction, and spreading uncontrollably. This repetitive cycle arouses the question of when people will learn how to take care of these epidemics. Well, according to Flahault and Zylberman, knowledge may not be the only factor necessary to stop influenza from disrupting lives. The authors reveal that “Influenza epidemics occur regularly and prediction of their conversion to pandemics and their impact is difficult” meaning there is no tangible definition of each strain or explanation of what it will do (319). Despite this reminder of the lack of control humans have at the viral level, there are aspects of hope that are visible from one outbreak to the next. Specifically, response to the H1N1 epidemic of 2009 was much calmer than the typical reaction to epidemics in the past. This reveals that people were able to learn from past outbreaks, such as SARS in 2003. The effectiveness of response increased in a mere six years which offers a great deal of hope for the way future outbreaks will be handled.

https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/auchs/2013/panelb2/2