Disease Spread through Contagion
http://wmdjunction.com/110923_contagion.htm
The movie Contagion very accurately depicts the way that diseases spread and how they can affect the population. Within the movie, one character becomes infected and we see that the virus spreads through multiple types of interactions. The way that the character travels by going across continents has a huge effect to the depth of the virus as well as the interactions she has with people. These could include shaking hands, hugging, coughing, or kissing to name a few. As the virus infects more and more people, it has a wider population that can spread it further. That is the premise of the movie and how we as a society tried to find a cure. The movie is quite possibly one of the most realistic depictions of real world possibilities because there was major consultations from renowned epidemiologists as well as virologists. There were definitely plot holes such as the speed at which the World Health Organization was informed and responded to the events but that is understandable due to the time limitations of the film. This article further goes to describe the spread of disease by using the film as a reference point.
This relates very well to our understanding of disease spreading. We look at it in depths of node paths. There’s a starting node with the initial infection which goes to the next depth of the tree and will infect some people and so on and so forth. In some cases, there are paths and networks created which more easily spread the disease and some that kill it off faster. This leads us to an understanding of the reproductive number which defines if the disease will keep spreading or die off. Government officials such as those that work at the World Health Organization or the Center for Disease Control will assess these paths and figure out ways to reduces the reproductive number in order to kill of the disease. In some cases they suggest to limit contact and wash your hands in order to fight off the spreading. In other instances, they may need to close of transportation lines in order to stop the infection from reaching new territories. Overall, we can see clearly how the spread of diseases is important to study for our own survival, and the use of networks and analysis of the network paths created can help understand the best possible route to eliminating a potential epidemic.