Reflection: For this assignment we needed to review different articles that talked about our chosen topic. The topic that I chose to write about was one on pandemics. I was really interested in this topic because of what was going on around us, I never would’ve guested that something like that would happen in our generation.

Bertrand Appia 

ENG 201 

Professor Zayas  

Literature Review 

Pandemics  

We should be researching the effects of a pandemic and the safety measures that need to be taken to limit the spread of outbreaks and reduce the loss of life. Instead of only looking at the aftermath of a pandemic we should be looking for where we went wrong and how we can prepare for the future. Today we find ourselves facing a pandemic that has already taken many lives around the world. No one expected a major pandemic to appear in their lifetime, and because of this many people are left in a state of panic. The main points related to pandemics found in the references are, how we should prepare, the reliable sources of information, social distancing, and simulation exercises. These points are all important measures that we need to follow to reduce the spread of the covid-19 virus and find a way to live our lives without being in constant fear. 

The first article that will be discussed is, “Better Prepare Than React: Reordering Public Health Priorities 100 Years After the Spanish Flu Epidemic”, by Michael Greenberger, JD. This article talks about what we should and shouldn’t do in response to a pandemic or outbreak and how we can prepare for future global outbreaks. The covid-19 virus isn’t the first pandemic we’ve experienced as a country. “The Spanish influenza of 1918-1919, a pandemic flu estimated to have infected more than 500 million people worldwide, likely caused between 50-100 million deaths globally.” (Greenberger). We experienced such a terrible pandemic that caused such a large loss in life. Even with such a huge hit from a pandemic like the Spanish influenza we still haven’t prepared enough to effectively fight off a pandemic even enough. If looked at the 100+ years after the Spanish flu, you can see how the public health emergency communities’ responses to much more limited pandemics and outbreaks reveal a critical shortage of personnel and resources as the United States continues its recent trend of cutting back on the infectious disease funding and research (Greenberger). We’ve had all this time to prepare for future incidents, but we still didn’t come out with a clearer understanding of the importance of putting more into our research and funding to combat pandemic like the covid-19 virus. Hospitals in areas hit hardest by the recent flu had to treat patients in waiting rooms or set up tents in parking lots to help accommodate the patient surge (Greenberger). We see the problem of an extreme limit of space in hospitals and necessities now with all the covid-19 cases surging rapidly. People who aren’t infected with the virus but still need to go in for other health reasons end up having to be placed on a “list” in which they are either prioritized or set aside. We now must resort to setting up tents in public parks so we can treat anyone who has been displaying symptoms of the virus. The problem also lies with not being able to effectively separate the patients who have the virus from the ones that don’t. We need to find a better way to separate these people because we can’t ignore or risk the possibility of the virus spreading in such a dangerous environment. Another thing that we should take a closer look at is how to effectively manage a quarantine. In the article, Greenberger mentions the harsh treatment of Kaci Hickox upon her return to the United States after treating Ebola patients.

 Hickox was involuntarily confined to her house without her displaying any symptoms of the virus. When under quarantine you are prohibited from being in public places, attending public gatherings, taking public transportation, and entering workplaces. Quarantines are effective in reducing the spread of an outbreak only if it is done properly. When the Ebola virus was spreading the United States gave quarantine policies without any regard to the scientific evidence of how it spread and how its’ symptoms manifest themselves (Greenberger). This is something that should be avoided in the event of a pandemic since it’s possibly that you could only make the situation worse by blindly issuing a quarantine. It is only effective if there are any observable symptoms. Doing so without any sign of a virus is a violation of an individual’s civil liberties. An example of a quarantine being done wrong was the on a cruise ship. They pretty much isolated people just as a sense of reinsurance instead of planning it out. This ended up spreading the virus among the passengers even more. 

The article, “Public Sources of Information and Information Needs for Pandemic Influenza”, by Ling Ping Wong and I-Ching Sam, talked about the importance of information in the event of a pandemic or outbreak. The most important sources of information all around is through the internet, television, and healthcare providers. Being able to inform and guide people in such troubling times is a good way to keep people relatively calm. Today we use our ability to communicate during this time to try and reduce the spread of the virus by keeping people informed of any changes or major developments. “Early knowledge of an outbreak may lead to early risk behavioral responses, and ultimately improve health outcomes.” (Wong). Getting any type of early information on an outbreak can do a lot. The faster we get information the sooner we can use it to prepare for what’s to come. If everyone was informed about the coronavirus then we could’ve come up with a few countermeasures for the virus, which would’ve put us in a better situation than the one we’re in now. Withholding or being late with important information of a potential outbreak puts the lives of many people at risk. 

The article, “School practices to promote social distancing in K-12 schools: review of influenza pandemic policies and practices”, by BMC Public Health, talks about how social distancing can slow the spread of an outbreak by a noticeable degree. Social distancing can slow down virus transmission in schools and surrounding communities, helping to relieve pressure on overburdened healthcare and public health systems and buy time for pandemic vaccine production and distribution (BMC Public Health). Limiting the amount of people gathering in public is one of the best things you can do during a pandemic since you lower the chances of it spreading. It was smart to close schools because they are examples of socially dense environments you need to avoid. Even commuting to and from school is a way to spread the virus if someone was infected. Today we are going through social distancing to avoid any unnecessary gatherings with other people. We can still do things like take online classes and work from home to keep things from our normal life going. 

The last thing that can be done to prepare for a pandemic is having simulation exercises. “Whole-of-society approach for influenza pandemic epicenter Containment exercise in Indonesia”, by Journal of Infection and Public Health, talks about the idea of having simulations of outbreaks to prepare for when one happens. After experiencing huge economic, social disruptions and such a huge loss in life Indonesia started preparing themselves for future outbreaks. This is the mentality that all major countries should have after going through a pandemic once. We need to be prepared for something that can have such a huge impact on our lives. 

We need to set aside enough funding towards our response to public health emergencies. We shouldn’t find ourselves in a shortage in hospital space and basic supplies. We’re making the effort to create more places to treat anyone with the virus but we should have already been on top of that. We can’t solely rely on our knowledge of the past since our population is always increasing steadily. We need to take that into account and be better prepared for these health emergencies. Quarantines are helpful but only when there are observable symptoms, blindly isolating people without any plan always does more bad than good, we made that mistake with how we handled the cruise ship. Information is still the most important thing that you can have in this situation, a lot more people would be panicked if they weren’t been updated on what’s going on. We are still doing our best in this dark time but hopefully it’s not too long before we can return to our normal lives.