The H1N1 Flu Epidemic Surveilled and Film Noir Referenced: Panic in the Streets
National Public Radio ran two stories on the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine, its reception by some who are skeptical, (Marketing Flu Vaccine: A Tough Sell for Many) and Boost Your Flu IQ: Your Questions Answered. In this case, NPR solicited the input of experts, researchers, and doctors to answer questions .
"Dr. Howard Markel at the University of Michigan says vaccine opposition comes in many flavors. Markel, who has studied flu pandemics, says this one comes at a time when trust of authority has been eroding for decades. It is also a time when anybody with an ax to grind can get an instant Internet audience."
By the way, Dr. Markel, who has an impressive résumé, wrote an article with Alexandra Stern on The Public Health Service and film noir: A look back at Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950) for the Public Health Journal, a film we remember vividly and rented recently:
"It is a sultry summer evening in New Orleans, Louisiana. An unknown foreigner of Latin or Middle Eastern descent named Kochak is murdered in a scuffle over gambling proceeds by Blackie, one of the port city's most notorious and brutish gangsters. By the next morning, the body of the unidentified man ends up in the county morgue, where the attending coroner becomes alarmed, not at the bullet wound, but rather at the evidence of a deadly infection that ravaged the man's body before he was shot. Within minutes, Dr. Clinton Reed, a United States Public Health Service (PHS) officer, is called to the scene. Reed examines a sputum specimen from the deceased under the microscope and identifies the bacterial culprit as the highly contagious and airborne pneumonic plague. He orders the cremation of the man's remains, the sterilization of all objects with which he came in contact, and doses of serum to vaccinate and streptomycin to treat those exposed to this virulent germ. Convening an emergency meeting with the local authorities, Reed warns that they have only 48 hours to track down the killers and probable plague carriers who threaten to spark an epidemic that could reach far beyond the city of New Orleans. Thus unfolds the drama of Panic in the Streets (1950), a film noir that relies on the familiar Hollywood staples of the gangster, gumshoe detective, and policeman to produce a tale that is as much about the hysteria that gripped the United States during McCarthyism as humans' instinctive fear of devastating diseases. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and based on a story written by Edward and Edna Anhalt that was turned into a screenplay by Richard Murphy. It was favorably reviewed in prominent newspapers and magazines, such as Time and Variety. But unlike other films of the era, Panic in the Streets captures the repressive political currents of the 1950s and expresses an optimistic faith in medical progress and the ability to control disease. The film's hero, Reed, played by Richard Widmark, is a public health servant whose determination to steer the correct course, against the objections and skepticism of many, saves New Orleans, and possibly the world, from a pandemic."
In order to track the progress of the swine flu and deaths (including pediatric) attributed to flu and pneumonia, consult a page entitled FluView, A Weekly Surveillance Report Prepared by the Influenza Division:
"All of the subtyped influenza A viruses reported during week 42 were 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses, and all 2009 H1N1 viruses tested since April 2009 have been resistant to the adamantanes (amantadine and rimantadine)."
"Antiviral treatment with oseltamivir or zanamivir is recommended for all patients with confirmed or suspected influenza virus infection who are hospitalized or who are at higher risk for influenza complications. Additional information on antiviral recommendations for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of influenza virus infection is available at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/recommendations.htm."
We looked into explanation of the adamantanes and found the following to be understandable to the lay person:
World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Monash University, School of Applied Sciences, 45 Poplar Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.
"Development of effective drugs for the treatment or prevention of epidemic and pandemic influenza is important in order to reduce its impact. Adamantanes and neuraminidase inhibitors are two classes of anti-influenza drugs available for influenza therapy currently. However, emergence of resistance to these drugs has been detected, which raises concerns regarding their widespread use."
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