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Questions 1, 2, & 3: 12 points each. These questions ask learners to respond to the presentation and they aim to ensure that learners understand the material. There is a 200 word minimum per response. Learners should demonstrate an understanding of all of the relevant informationfrom the “Attend” section. In most cases, this means using information from several slides. Incomplete answers will be penalized accordingly.

Questions 4 & 5: 39 points in total. The last two questions are about the article(s) in the “Read” section, which are also available in the course materials box. These questions are designed to help learners to become thoughtful, critical readers of popular media

All "Complete" work must be submitted by Sunday at midnight.

1. How did "anti-septic consciousness" improve public health in America? Why is this approach unsuitable for dealing with HIV/AIDS?

2. Explain how DNA codes for traits? Be sure to discuss RNA and proteins in your answer.

3. Describe some problems associated with the use of antibiotics or vaccinations to treat or prevent disease. Name one way in which our government dictates the administration of vaccines to children.

4. What were the three major outbreaks of influenza during the 20th century and how did governments understand and respond to these outbreaks?

5. What are some of the pro's and con's to defining an influenza pandemic as a security risk?


Minimum 150 words per post. Learners must make at least two posts by 11:59 PM on Sundays that directly respond to other posts.

1. This post should be addressed to Cindy Hurt

Having children comes with different kinds of responsibilities. One thing parents have to do is get their children vaccinated. There are still many parents that refuse to let their children have shots. Meanwhile, the number of diseases are rising because of children not vaccinated. I personally feel like they should be made to get the immunizations. Innocent lives are being put at risk. I hear the excuse that autism is caused by vaccines. According to Kirkland (2012), millions of federal dollars were spent on research to see if there was a link between shots and autism. Scientist seemed convinced there was not a connection between the two. However, to this day some people still use that as an excuse not to get them.

Children should have the immunizations before they go to school or college. People hide behind religious exemptions to keep from getting shots. I feel like it is overused and there should be no exemption. I used to be in charge with keeping up with immunizations for a university, and the religious exemption came into play a lot. Sometimes I felt like they just did not want to do it. According to Grey (2014), people are still arguing over whether the first amendment should be used to protect student's religious rights on exemptions. I can see where people argue over religion in schools, but I do not understand how people want to get out of shots and insurance by taking a religious exemption.

Influenza shots are not mandatory at this point, but I feel like they could be in the future. According to Kamradt-Scott (2012), influenza has been around for centuries and is not going anywhere. It does not matter how old a person is. They can still be infected. Hospitals and doctor's offices make it mandatory for there employees. Doctors highly suggest their patients get them.

2. This post should be addressed to Michael Brewer:

We as parents have human rights to exercise freedom of conscience and informed consent to medical risks taking on our minor children, and children do have the civil right to school education.There are risks in vaccines that are being borne equally by all, the laws with vaccines are without a flexible medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions are oppressive, inhumane and a violation of one’s civil and human rights.

As research has shown, vaccines are basically pharmaceutical products that can carry a risk of injury or death.In some children there are genetic, biological and environmental high risks factors that make some more susceptible to vaccine harm, this was acknowledged by Congress in 1986, in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act to shield manufacturers from a civil liability.There is no way for the parent, or the doctors to know who will be injured due to the long standing gaps in science today.

Freedom of Speech and Press,in the Constitution gives anyone the right to exercise freedom of conscience and religious beliefs, this even includes rather to take a vaccine or not because of the medical risks or injuries it could cause to the person, this has been a centerpiece of the ethical practice of modern medicine.

In 1905 the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional authority of the state legislatures to require smallpox vaccination during “an epidemic of disease,” the Court sent out a warning against that vaccine to mandate it should not go beyond “what was reasonably required for the safety of the public” and would lead to an “injustice, oppression or absurd consequence” or be “cruel and inhuman to the last degree.”

A century later, after Supreme Court had done there thing, the mandate for one dose of smallpox vaccine has been replaced by a federal directive that children get 69 doses of 16 vaccines on the day of birth, with 49 dosed of 14 vaccine will be given by the time the child is 6 years old.State legislatures have mandated multiple doses of at least 10 of these vaccines for children, but many of them are for diseases that may or may not have a high complication and mortality rate like smallpox, not wide spread, or are not transmitted in a public setting.

New vaccines are being developed and mandated every day.Vaccine mandates are still lacking on informed consent protections that should be repealed.


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½ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ½ Changing Perceptions of Pandemic Influenza and Public Health Responses | Adam Kamradt-Scott, PhD, MAIS According to the latest World Bank estimates, over the past decade some US $4.3 billion has been pledged by governments to combat the threat of pandemic influenza. Presidents, prime ministers, and even dictators the world over have been keen to demonstrate their commitment to tackling this disease, but this has not always been the case. Indeed, government-led intervention in responding to the threat of pandemic influenza is a relatively recent phenomenon. I explore how human understandings of influenza have altered over the past 500 years and how public policy responses have shifted accordingly. I trace the progress in human understanding of causation from meteorological conditions to the microscopic, and how this has prompted changes in public policy to mitigate the disease’s impact. I also examine the latest trend of viewing pandemic influenza as a security threat and how this has changed contemporary governance structures and power dynamics. (Am J Public Health. 2012;102:90–98. doi:10.2105/ AJPH.2011.300330) 90 | Public Health Then and Now | Peer Reviewed | Kamradt-Scott OF ALL COMMUNICABLE diseases, pandemic influenza probably remains the most feared by politicians, policymakers, and health practitioners alike, and with good cause. Unlike a variety of other infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), influenza has infected and affected humanity for centuries. Although seasonal variations of this pathogen tend to cause serious illness only in the old, infirm, or very young, periodically a new strain emerges to which humans have little to no immunity. These latter strains have, on occasion, demonstrated that even those in the prime of life are vulnerable. There is no better example than the 1918– 1919 Spanish Influenza pandemic, which spread around the world approximately 3 times in 18 months and killed an estimated 40 million people. Over time, however, the magnitude of the 1918 pandemic faded from memory. The 1958 and 1967 pandemics revealed that the menace remained, yet for much of the 20th century pandemic influenza was generally viewed as inconsequential in the face of other potential threats such as nuclear annihilation. In more recent years, the international community has witnessed a lot of activity (often accompanied by dire warnings) directed against the threat of pandemic influenza. Literally billions of dollars have been spent on procuring and securing access to pharmaceuticals, in drawing up contingency plans and then exercising them, in training critical personnel and first-line responders, and in encouraging the private sector to develop business continuity plans, all to better prepare societies for dealing with the next pandemic. Although the 2009 H1N1 pandemic was less severe than originally feared, medical professionals and scientists continue to warn that another pandemic of similar severity to the 1918 pandemic remains a distinct probability. The only question that remains is not if, but when. American Journal of Public Health | January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ I examine how understandings of influenza and attempts to mitigate its effects have developed and evolved over the past 500 years and how the recent shift toward framing the virus as a threat to national and international security has shaped contemporary public health policy. A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “influenza” is from the Italian influenza, which literally means “influence,” although its origins can also be traced to the medieval Latin influere meaning “to flow in.”1 The official adoption in 1782 of the term “influenza” by the British College of Physicians firmly established its place in medical parlance2 and displaced several of the alternative names the disease was known by, such as the French “la grippe,” the English “catarrh,” and the Scottish “rant.”3 Yet, although the name may have changed over time, historical accounts of the symptoms experienced by victims display a striking commonality that leaves little doubt that the disease has been a persistent element of the human condition for millennia. Indeed, from the historical accounts that have survived to the present day, it is now generally held that the first truly worldwide influenza pandemic occurred in the year 1510. Before this, although evidence of localized influenza epidemics and even regional epidemics dating back to 1173 survives, none of the accounts proffer sufficient information to suggest that these epidemics were worldwide in scope. It is in this regard that Dr Thomas Short’s account in his work A General Chronological History of the Air, Weather, Seasons, Meteors Etc., published in 1749, is unique. It describes an epidemic that hit Britain in 1510, while also noting its wider impact: made in determining the nature of the disease in large part because of competing ideas over causation. In fact, as Margaret DeLacy relates, The disease called Coccoluche, or Coccolucio, (because the sick wore a cap or covering close all over their heads) came from the island of Melite in Africa, into Sicily; so into Spain and Italy, from that over the Alps into Portugal, Hungary, and a great part of Germany, even to the Baltic Sea; every month shifting its situation with the wind from East to West, so into France, Britain. It attacked at once, and raged all over Europe, not missing a family, and scarce a person.4 the depiction of influenza as a distinct genus of disease only first became common during the eighteenth century. During that period, physicians developed competing theories about its etiology (causation) and transmission, including the theory that influenza was contagious. Theories of contagion were held by an increasing number of physicians during the course of the eighteenth century, although the issue remained a contested one, as symbolized by the publication of two separate reports on the epidemic of 1782 by the Royal College of Physicians and the Society for Promoting Medical Knowledge: reports that differed on the question of transmission.7 Yet, although additional writings have contributed to our overall understanding of the disease at this time,5 the intrinsic flaw in both the early and contemporary accounts has been their overreliance on a limited pool of literature, as David Patterson acknowledges that [e]ighteenth- and nineteenthcentury information is geographically uneven, with data most abundant by far for Western Europe, notably Britain, Germany, France, and northern Italy. Scandinavia, Russia, the Iberian Peninsula, and especially the Balkans are more sparsely documented in the contemporary medical literature, but we can usually construct a fairly satisfactory picture of influenza activity in Europe. Reports on Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America are sketchy at best and usually supplied by European observers. North American data are better, but often quite disappointing.6 As a consequence, contemporary knowledge about influenza epidemics and pandemics throughout earlier centuries tends to be heavily skewed toward European worldviews and those of a few specific countries in particular. Moreover, little progress was January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 | American Journal of Public Health The debate over causation continued into the early 20th century, with some physicians robustly defending the notion that influenza was linked to meteorological conditions such as high winds, sunshine, and relative “ Of all communicable diseases, pandemic influenza probably remains the most feared by politicians, policymakers, and health practitioners alike, and with good cause. humidity.8 Generally speaking, however, influenza did not rate particularly high on medical and political agendas even at the beginning of the 20th century. As late as 1837, there was a strong view that governments had little to no role in ensuring public health9; although this sentiment progressively began to change, government intervention in the form of large-scale public health campaigns was rare, particularly ” Kamradt-Scott | Peer Reviewed | Public Health Then and Now | 91 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ any relating to influenza. Nonetheless, influenza epidemics and pandemics occurred with almost clockwork frequency throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Arguably, the frequency of these events contributed to a measure of acceptance and familiarity with the disease; it is also easy to appreciate that other diseases such as typhoid and cholera ranked higher because of their comparatively high fatality rate and impact on international trade. That is, until the 1918 “Spanish Flu” pandemic forever changed societal notions about the disease. Even by contemporary standards, the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic continues to remain one of the most devastating events in recorded human history. As one commentator reflected in 1978, “The influenza pandemic of 1918 ranks with the plague of Justinian and the black death as one of the three most destructive human epidemics.”10 Believed to have begun in North America in early 1918, the pandemic traversed the globe in 3 distinct waves over approximately an 18-month period. The speed of the disease was therefore remarkable in that it spread rapidly around the world before the advent of international air travel. More disturbing, however, was the lethality of the disease, which infected as much as 50% of the population in some areas before killing up to 25% of the entire population.11 Furthermore, in contrast to most influenza epidemics, which affected the very old or very young, some of the highest fatality rates of the 1918 pandemic were for people in the prime of life. At the height of hostilities in World War I, information about the adverse impact of an epidemic 92 | Public Health Then and Now | Peer Reviewed | Kamradt-Scott on military forces was considered highly sensitive. It is believed that this reluctance to alert other countries to the impact on troop numbers aided the spread of the disease. Although the pandemic is suspected to have originated in the United States, it was inappropriately termed the Spanish Flu in 1918 only because the Spanish authorities were the first to declare that they were experiencing a nationwide epidemic12; as W. I. B. Beveridge aptly noted, “this misleading name stuck.”13 Only once that point was reached did other countries finally begin to acknowledge that they too were recording significant numbers of human fatalities. Estimates vary considerably regarding the overall death toll of the 1918 pandemic, with most conservative estimates ranging between 20 million and 50 million deaths worldwide.14 Because of the massive loss of human life, the 1918 pandemic did have one positive outcome in that it spurred considerable scientific research into influenza. One of the initial areas to be investigated was the connection to pigs, prompted by the observations of veterinarian J. S. Koen of the US Bureau of Animal Industry in 1918. Koen observed, [t]he similarity of the epidemic among people and the epizootic among pigs was so close, the reports so frequent, that an outbreak in the family would be followed immediately by an outbreak among the hogs, and vice versa, as to present a most striking coincidence, if not suggesting a close relation between the two conditions. It looked like “flu,” it presented the identical symptoms of “flu,” and until proved it was not “flu” I shall stand by that diagnosis.15 The cause of this porcine disease was subsequently confirmed as influenza in 1931, following the virus’s isolation and identification by Richard Shope and his colleague Paul Lewis. Following closely behind this discovery, three scientists—Wilson Smith, Christopher Andrewes, and Patrick Laidlaw—isolated and identified the virus from human tissue samples in 1933,16 naming this first virus influenza A. These discoveries and the subsequent development of a viable influenza vaccine in 1940s altered considerably the response of individuals and governments toward influenza, serving to usher in a new age of human interaction with the disease. The 1918 pandemic had another interesting (albeit temporary) outcome: it instilled the notion that influenza was closely associated with war, with some scientists even explicitly referring to it as a “war disease.”17 Governments had been cognizant of influenza’s ability to decimate military forces since at least 1782,18 but the 1918 pandemic cemented military interest in the disease because of the considerable impact it had on armed services personnel.19 So convinced were some officials that influenza would appear with the outbreak of World War II that in 1941 the United States established the Commission on Influenza of the United States Army Epidemiological Board to provide technical advice and commence work on an effective vaccine. The preoccupation, though, was short-lived,20 and with the advent and mass production of antibiotics and new vaccines, many began to believe that the war against infectious diseases would soon be over.21 Two subsequent pandemics revealed that such optimism was misplaced. The first pandemic, which commenced in 1957 and American Journal of Public Health | January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ was named the Asian Flu after cases were first recorded in China and the surrounding region, contributed to the deaths of more than 2 million people worldwide. The first event of its kind to be observed with modern scientific techniques,22 the 1957 pandemic became one of the most widely described medical events of the 20th century.23 Contemporary medical professionals have even conceded that [m]ost of the current understanding of influenza and its complications are derived from the 1957 pandemic experience.24 The emerging practice of disease surveillance revealed what many had long suspected: that locations such as schools and military camps proved fertile grounds for spreading the disease because of crowded conditions and inadequate hygiene.25 The epidemiological data that were collected on the success of vaccination programs—which had been initiated in the United States by the US Department of Defense26—and other campaigns that encouraged handwashing, facemask wearing, and general hygiene, also began to inform new public policy responses. Arguably, why so much was written and recorded about the 1957 pandemic can be attributed to one organization in particular: the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1947, following a request by a respected group of scientists, the Interim Commission of the WHO agreed to establish the World Influenza Centre (WIC) to collect and distribute information, conduct and coordinate laboratory work on the virus, and train new laboratory workers.27 Officially established in London in 1947, the WIC marked the start of the broader WHO Influenza Program to (1) plan against the reoccurrence of future pandemics, (2) develop control methods to limit the impact when a pandemic did appear, and (3) limit as much as possible the economic impacts of influenza epidemics and pandemics. Behind all this activity loomed the specter of the 1918 pandemic and the massive loss of life it had inflicted.28 In 1952, the WHO also formed the Expert Committee on Influenza to provide technical advice and general oversight for the organization’s program of work.29 At the heart of the WHO Influenza Program, though, was an international network of laboratories and scientists that shared information on the latest influenza-related scientific discoveries—a network that continues to function to the present day and that forms the basis of international efforts to control and mitigate the health impacts of influenza. From the network’s inception, every member state of the organization was encouraged to establish a national influenza center to collaborate with the WIC; by 1968, when the next influenza pandemic commenced, the network had grown to include 79 national influenza centers in some 54 countries and 2 reference centers (later known as “collaborating centres”) in London and the United States.30 The second pandemic to defy the notion that the battle against infectious diseases would soon be over was the 1968 “Hong Kong Flu” pandemic, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1 million people worldwide. Named after the island where cases were first identified, the pandemic validated the critical importance of conducting regular disease surveillance.31 As it January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 | American Journal of Public Health became increasingly evident that vaccination campaigns prevented the loss of human life and reduced the economic impacts on society, attention began to progressively shift to calculating the cost of such events32—a trend that persisted well into the 1970s and 1980s in response to broader economic pressures and a desire by Western governments to ensure value for money in the face of economic rationalism.33 By the mid-1980s, pandemic influenza had effectively fallen off the international agenda. Several geopolitical factors arguably contributed to this, such as political attention shifting more toward “hard” security considerations of nuclear proliferation, debt crises, and various conflicts throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. But even in health, the US “War on Drugs” and the rise of new diseases such as HIV/AIDS understandably shifted public attention away from influenza. Instead, influenza increasingly began to be viewed as an entirely preventable disease following the introduction and progressive refinement of viable vaccines. In 1952, scientific consensus held that influenza vaccines remained “experimental.”34 By 1959, however, because of the considerable scientific evidence that had been collated from annual seasonal influenza epidemics and multiple clinical trials conducted in various countries throughout the 1950s,35 this view had shifted, with the WHO recording that Experience in many countries has now established vaccination as the most efficient method for the prevention of influenza.36 By 1969, the WHO, which by this time had become an “authoritative source of information on Kamradt-Scott | Peer Reviewed | Public Health Then and Now | 93 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ the occurrence of influenza and its spread from one country to another,” actively promoted the view that “[v]accination is the only established procedure for conferring protection against influenza.”37 Nonetheless, the organization became preoccupied with a number of global eradication initiatives, such as the Malaria Eradication Program and its now widely hailed successful campaign against smallpox. Added to this, in the aftermath of the comparatively mild 1968 pandemic and the 1976 Swine Flu vaccination debacle,38 public perceptions about the risk presented by this disease (and the need for protection from influenza) had altered perceptibly. The WHO, which is reliant on contributions from member states to support its work, reflected the downturn in interest to the extent that by 1997, the organization had progressively reduced the number of personnel employed to work on influenza to one individual.39 In the late 1990s, public perceptions of and political interest in pandemic influenza changed markedly yet again. The confirmation in 1997 that 6 of 18 people infected with a novel strain of H5N1 “bird flu” died as a result of their exposure reawakened international concern for the disease. This event also coincided with a wider growing recognition among Western developed nations that several infectious diseases, once previously eliminated in their territories, had begun to resurface alongside new diseases to threaten populations.40 Pandemic influenza came to be seen as a particular threat; with several prominent medical professionals, academics, and policymakers warning against a repeat of a 1918 Spanish Flu–like event, 94 | Public Health Then and Now | Peer Reviewed | Kamradt-Scott pandemic planning began to be increasingly viewed as a critical measure that governments needed to undertake.41 Reflecting the change in political interest, the WHO immediately began to enlarge its pandemic influenza portfolio, increasing the number of dedicated staff and releasing several guidance documents on pandemic preparedness. By the turn of the century, the way in which developed countries viewed some infectious diseases had entered a new paradigm— that of (inter)national security. The release of such documents as the US Central Intelligence Agency’s national intelligence estimate confirmed that “threat” arguments had found purchase among policymakers and politicians concerned about the potential societal impacts that some infectious diseases such as pandemic influenza could generate. The passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1308 on the threat of HIV/AIDS epitomized this change in perception42; as Stephen Collier and Andrew Lakoff have summarized, [r]evelations during the 1990s about Soviet and Iraqi bioweapons programs, along with the Aum Shinrikyo subway attack in 1995 and the anthrax letters of 2001, lent a sense of credibility and urgency to calls for biodefense measures focused on bioterrorism.43 By 2005, a select few diseases had become “securitized” in the sense that they were perceived (and openly discussed) as a threat to national and international peace and security. The corresponding effect of this securitizing move was to reemphasize the central role of government in mitigating the impacts of these diseases; Western governments increasingly found themselves under pressure to develop strategies ranging from generic pandemic planning to more specific interventions.44 In the context of pandemic influenza, the cornerstone of pandemic planning and preparedness was widely promoted as ensuring ready access to influenza vaccines.45 The advent of influenza antiviral medications in the 1990s added to the pharmacological arsenal; however, despite limited clinical trials demonstrating their efficacy,46 on the advice of medical practitioners antivirals were soon identified alongside vaccines as “the two most important medical interventions for reducing illness and deaths during a pandemic.”47 Correspondingly, governments embarked on new programs aimed at stockpiling these drugs48 and were encouraged to develop plans that took into account a range of additional measures—such as the practice of encouraging physical distancing between individuals in multiple social settings (otherwise known as social distancing),49 legal considerations and regulation,50 the application of social justice principles,51 and the ethical considerations of pandemics52—to protect their respective populations. Further compounding the pressure on governments was the realization that policies that focused on the domestic sphere alone were insufficient. As David L. Heymann and Guenael Rodier summarized, [p]opulation movement is only part of the globalization fallout. Expansion in international travel and commerce in food and medicinal biologic products provides another potential source of communicable diseases such as hepatitis and other bloodborne infections. Social and environmental changes American Journal of Public Health | January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ linked to urbanization, mobility, and deforestation have created new opportunities for infection, while rapid adaptation of microorganisms has facilitated the return of old communicable diseases and the emergence of new ones. With the rapid evolution of antimicrobial resistance, treatments for a wide range of parasitic, bacterial, and viral infections have become less effective. Today, a communicable disease in one country is a global concern.53 A series of disease-related incidents early in the first decade of the 21st century—which notably included the 2001 anthrax letter attacks in the United States, the 2003 SARS outbreak, and the emergence and progressive international spread of avian influenza from late 2003 onwards—validated these concerns. By 2005, convinced of the growing threat presented by avian influenza to the whole of society, governments the world over embarked on new programs of pandemic planning and preparation. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the urging of several Southeast Asian countries, established a new department—the United Nations System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC)— to help coordinate the multiple UN agencies engaged in activities related to preventing avian influenza. The creation of this supraorganizational body coincided with the establishment of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza announced by US President George W. Bush; it was accompanied by considerable US government funds for strengthening international surveillance, detection, and response. In addition, multiple fora for coordinating pandemic-related work were either newly created or subsumed into existing mandates with all manner of intergovernmental organizations, ranging from regional (e.g., Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation [APEC] and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN]) to international (e.g., the WHO); these fora received new financial investment and support to enhance pandemic influenza preparedness and response capabilities. Various local, national, regional, and international plans were developed and in a number of instances exercised. New laws and regulations were passed, and contracts worth billions of dollars were agreed to between national governments and pharmaceutical companies to ensure access to vaccines and antivirals. In short, the international community went into pandemic overdrive, pledging approximately US $4.3 billion between 2005 and 2009.54 In April 2009, the hyperactivity initially appeared to have been substantiated following the announcement that a novel strain of H1N1 influenza had managed to infect humans. Within a matter of weeks, the virus had been detected in multiple countries around the world, and the WHO moved to declare a full-scale pandemic. Fortunately, the virus responsible for the pandemic was more akin to the 1977 Russian Flu than the 1918 Spanish Flu in terms of severity, and the dire warnings about the number of possible fatalities and widespread societal impacts were thus revealed to be excessive—the threat had proved nominal. Nonetheless, in anticipation of a disastrous event, contingency plans were invoked, emergency committees were convened, and billions of dollars were spent procuring antivirals and pandemic-specific vaccines. The legitimacy of the WHO, once viewed as the vanguard of January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 | American Journal of Public Health human health, was questioned over accusations the organization had been unduly influenced by pharmaceutical manufacturers into changing its definition of a pandemic. A number of independent inquiries were subsequently launched, and although they exonerated the WHO of any inappropriate or unethical behavior, the organization did agree to review its processes for declaring a pandemic. CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGING PERCEPTIONS It is clear from this summary that human understandings about pandemic influenza, and how best to mitigate its effects, has altered markedly over time. In centuries past, the disease was viewed as a meteorological phenomenon, the result of foul-smelling air, or even condemnation by the gods. The response by individuals to try and prevent contracting the disease, however, was somewhat limited. As time progressed and scientific advances were made, the cause of the disease was identified to be a virus. This revelation prompted the creation of vaccines and, eventually, antiviral medications to counteract its effects. Over the past century, the role of government has ebbed and waned as politicians, policymakers, and health practitioners alike have weighed the hazards associated with responding to this disease. But, as Western societies have become increasingly risk averse, the need for government-led interventions and protection from influenza has grown. Although the change has been reflected in government responses to a select few other infectious diseases as well, the latest clearly identifiable shift in public policy responses to Kamradt-Scott | Peer Reviewed | Public Health Then and Now | 95 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ pandemic influenza has been to securitize the disease, but this too has had both positive and negative outcomes. Indeed, securitizing pandemic influenza appears to have been a double-edged sword in many respects. Certainly, the framing of pandemic influenza as a security threat illustrates deeper changes in global health governance, which some have argued is closely tied to US economic and security interests.55 Whether such claims are accurate or not, this framing has served to elevate the disease above other health concerns that are arguably more pressing for a larger percentage of the world’s population (e.g., maternal and child mortality, malaria). Furthermore, at least in the short term, securitizing pandemic influenza has ensured that governments have accorded significant political attention to the disease. This has had the corollary effect of substantial resources being allocated to strengthen health systems to enhance disease surveillance, detection, and outbreak response capacities for pandemic influenza—approximately US $4.3 billion in monetary pledges or in-kind technical support to date. Not surprisingly, communities have benefited from this investment—if for no other reason than because strengthening health systems in one area (i.e., pandemic preparedness) can also lead to gains in other health areas more generally (i.e., improving communicable disease prevention and control). At the same time, by securitizing the disease advocates of this approach have also reinforced the message that the threat is both serious and imminent—a message that was not borne out by the latest influenza-related event. Of course, had the 2009 H1N1 pandemic proven more severe, it is likely that influenza would have been further embedded in our collective consciousness as a legitimate threat, and reinforced the broader view that infectious diseases do threaten (inter) national security. Given, however, that the 2009 pandemic has been portrayed as comparatively mild (compared with 1918), it is currently unclear whether depicting influenza as a security threat will endure. Certainly, what has become apparent is that just as significant political attention and resources were accorded to pandemic influenza in 2005, by 2010 there had been an equally substantial and rapid scaling back of resources now that the threat was perceived to have passed.56 Whether this assessment is entirely correct is not certain, with human H5N1 infections continuing to occur; with widespread “pandemic fatigue” having set in among international donors, however, it is unlikely that the former level of activity will now be sustained. Securitizing infectious diseases like pandemic influenza has also had an unsettling effect on national and global governance structures and, accordingly, on public policy. The heightened political attention accorded to the threat of infectious diseases has, for instance, prompted the passage of new legislation that grants governments extended powers,57 given greater impetus for intervention (and ownership) by central governments in health care services,58 and resulted in millions (and in some instances billions) of dollars worth of investment in civil and military biodefense initiatives.59 Within all these arrangements, vaccines have continued to remain the much-sought-after magic bullet 96 | Public Health Then and Now | Peer Reviewed | Kamradt-Scott in the war against infectious diseases.60 In the specific context of pandemic influenza, the fixation on vaccines, combined with the recent policy shift toward securitizing the disease, has served to distort the existing governance arrangements, granting pharmaceutical manufacturers a disproportionate amount of political power and influence. Some public health experts have been complicit in this, arguing that School closure, quarantine, travel restrictions and so on are unlikely to be more effective than a garden hose in a forest fire.61 Accordingly, less attention has been given to building the evidence base for alternative measures such as the use of personal protective equipment, personal hygiene, and social distancing principles62—measures that would arguably benefit a larger proportion of the world’s population that currently do not have access to these essential medicines. Indeed, in the majority of pandemic plans, governments have only tended to consider these measures as a means to limit virus transmission until a viable vaccine becomes available. This imbalance was perhaps most clearly demonstrated in the context of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, with the World Bank noting that of the estimated US $1.48 billion required to counteract the pandemic’s effects in 95 of the least-resourced countries, some US $1.14 billion (or 77% of the funds) was identified as being necessary to purchase vaccines and related medicines.63 The contemporary imbalance was also reflected in Indonesia’s decision to stop sharing virus samples with the WHO’s Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN). This decision, which transpired in January 2007, was taken in part to force the international community’s hand to improve access to vaccines. After some 4 years of diplomatic negotiations, a new agreement—the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework—was endorsed by the 64th World Health Assembly in May 2011. The new agreement outlines a series of recommendations, norms, oversight procedures, and governance arrangements to facilitate the sharing of influenza virus samples with human pandemic potential. Through new obligations placed on pharmaceutical companies that are part of the GISN to contribute 50% of the network’s operating costs, the agreement transforms what was previously a largely publicly funded network (supported principally by funds from Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) into a new public–private partnership. At the same time, those companies that are not members of the network (and thereby exempt from contributing to the network’s operating costs) are required to agree to a package of measures intended to improve access to medicines and diagnostics for low-income countries. In this regard, the agreement may begin to address the power imbalance between pharmaceutical companies and governments that has arisen in the wake of the global dissemination of avian influenza, although it remains to be seen whether equity in access between governments will be achieved under the terms of the agreement. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the recent shift to securitizing diseases such as pandemic influenza has been the fact that Indonesia—a relatively small American Journal of Public Health | January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ geopolitical power—successfully used the perceived threat of a disease to force some of the world’s most powerful countries to the negotiating table. What this reveals is that the concept of health security has gained a measure of traction within contemporary international politics. One could overplay the significance of the case; however, that a country like Indonesia can command global attention and require changes to existing influenza governance arrangements by withholding virus samples represents a notable shift in contemporary global governance. What this trend portends for the future remains to be seen,64 but it is likely that in the current riskaverse environment the importance of government involvement in preventing and controlling infectious disease outbreaks such as pandemic influenza will continue to grow rather than lessen. Accordingly, there is likely to be a greater willingness on behalf of governments of all resource persuasions to be willing to challenge existing governance mechanisms and arrangements if they perceive that their security and the legitimacy they derive from protecting their population are being compromised. CONCLUSIONS This overview has provided a brief summary of the way in which humanity has sought to contend with and respond to the constant hazard of influenza pandemics over the past 500 years. In deciding what to name this common threat, 18th-century physicians selected an apt title, for influenza has certainly demonstrated its ability to influence human society in profound ways. Indeed, aside from the Justinian Plague of the 6th century and the Black Death of the 14th century that wreaked so much human suffering and death, it must be concluded that the 1918 Spanish Flu, which caused an estimated 40 million deaths worldwide, was one of the most devastating medical catastrophes of recorded human existence. The chance that another influenza pandemic of equivalent lethality may arise has spurred tremendous advances in medical science and public policy, and continues to do so. At the same time, the erosion of geospatial boundaries by globalizing processes ensures that the threat to human populations is as great as ever. In response to this trend, the role and importance of government-led interventions to counteract disease outbreaks has grown tremendously, as has the need for more effective coordination at the international level. Correspondingly, international organizations, governments, local authorities, industry, and even individuals all have a role to play in planning and preparing for the next pandemic. What remains to be seen, however, is how our contemporary understandings of this disease, and the measures we use to counteract its potential devastating effects, will serve to assist or hinder attempts to prevent a future pandemic. Q Acknowledgments This research was made possible through funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme, Ideas Grant 230489 GHG. I thank the 3 anonymous reviewers from the American Journal of Public Health. Note. All views expressed remain those of the author. Human Participant Protection Adam Kamradt-Scott is with the Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Correspondence should be sent to Adam Kamradt-Scott, Department of Global Health and Development, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, UK (e-mail: Adam.Kamradt-Scott@lshtm. ac.uk). Reprints can be ordered at http:// www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints/ Eprints” link. This article was accepted June 8, 2011. January 2012, Vol 102, No. 1 | American Journal of Public Health 10. J. H. Walters, “Influenza 1918: The Contemporary Perspective,” Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 54 (9) (1978): 856. 11. Populations in a number of Pacific Islands were especially adversely affected; see N. Johnson and J. Mueller, “Updating the Accounts: Global Mortality of the 1918–1920 ‘Spanish’ Influenza Pandemic,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 76 (1) (2002): 105–115. The research project from which this article was derived received approval from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Ethics Review Committee. 12. C. W. Potter, “Chronicle of Influenza Pandemics,” in Textbook of Influenza, ed. R. Webster (London: Blackwell Science, 1991), 3–18. Endnotes 13. Beveridge, Influenza: The Last Great Plague, 42. 1. C. Soanes, ed., The Oxford Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Wordpower Guide (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 664. 2. O. R. Eichel, “The Long-Time Cycles of Pandemic Influenza,” Journal of the American Statistical Association 18 (140) (1922): 447. See also M. DeLacy, “Influenza Research and the Medical Profession in Eighteenth-Century Britain,” Albion 25 (1) (1993): 37–66. 3. M. E. Kitler, P. Gavinio, and D. Lavanchy, “Influenza and the Work of the World Health Organization,” Vaccine 20 (supplement 2) (2002): S5–S14. 4. As recounted in T. Quinn, Flu: A Social History of Influenza (London: New Holland, 2002), 45. 5. T. Thompson, Annals of Influenza or Epidemic Catarrhal Fever in Great Britain From 1510 to 1837 (London: Sydenham Society, 1852); W. Beveridge, Influenza: The Last Great Plague: An Unfinished Story of Discovery (London: Heinemann, 1977); K. D. Patterson, Pandemic Influenza, 1700–1900: A Study in Historical Epidemiology (Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1986). 6. Patterson, Pandemic Influenza, 7. 7. DeLacy, “Influenza Research,” 37. About the Author Administration in the UK: Between Devolution and Europe (London: Nuffield Trust, 2006), 13. 8. H. S. Anders, “The Relation of Local Meteorological Conditions to the Influenza Epidemic in Philadelphia, Winter of 1898–99,” Transactions of the American Climatological and Clinical Association 15 (1899): 286–303; H. S. Anders, “The Relation of Sunshine to Influenza,” Transactions of the American Climatological and Clinical Association 18 (1902): 26–38; H. S. Anders, “Influenza and Weather Instability,” Transactions of the American Climatological and Clinical Association 23 (1907): 229–235. 9. As quoted in D. Rowland, Mapping Communicable Disease Control 14. See, for example, Johnson and Mueller, “Updating the Accounts,” 114. 15. J. S. Koen, as recounted in R. E. Shope, “Influenza: History, Epidemiology, and Speculation: The R. E. Dyer Lecture,” Public Health Reports (18961970) 73 (2) (1958): 172. 16. W. Smith, C. H. Andrewes, and P. P. Laidlaw, “A Virus Obtained From Influenza Patients,” Lancet 222 (5732) (1933): 66–68. 17. T. Francis, “A Consideration of Vaccination Against Influenza,” Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 25 (1) (1947): 5–10. 18. A. Hirsch, Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology: Volume 1— Acute Infective Diseases (London: New Sydenham Society, 1883). See also H. F. Parsons, “The Influenza Epidemics of 1889–90 and 1891, and Their Distribution in England and Wales,” British Medical Journal 2 (1597) (1891): 303– 308. 19. Kitler et al, “Influenza and the Work of the World Health Organization.” 20. C. R. Byerly, Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the US Army During World War I (New York: New York University Press, 2005), 189. 21. This view was most notably epitomized in the 1967 declaration by the then-US surgeon general, William H. Stewart, that the war against infectious diseases was over; see A. Fauci, “Infectious Diseases: Considerations for the 21st Century,” Clinical Infectious Diseases 32 (5) (2001): 675–685. 22. B. A. Cunha, “Influenza: Historical Aspects of Epidemics and Pandemics,” Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 18 (1) (2004): 141–155, 145. 23. Shope, “Influenza: History, Epidemiology, and Speculation,” 165. Kamradt-Scott | Peer Reviewed | Public Health Then and Now | 97 ~ PUBLIC HEALTH THEN AND NOW ~ 24. Cunha, “Influenza: Historical Aspects,” 145. Medical Journal 55 (640) (1979): 78–86. Vaccine,” American Journal of Medicine 82 (6, supplement 1) (1987): 31–34. 25. See, for example, A. D. Langmuir, M. Pizzi, W. Y. Trotter, and F. L. Dunn, “Asian Influenza Surveillance,” Public Health Reports (1896-1970) 73 (2) (1958): 114–120. 36. Expert Committee on Respiratory Viruses: First Report. World Health Organization Technical Report Series No. 170 (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1959), available at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_170.pdf, accessed February 18, 2011. 46. Hota and McGeer, “Antivirals and the Control of Influenza Outbreaks.” 26. W. R. Dowdle, “Influenza Pandemic Periodicity, Virus Recycling, and the Art of Risk Assessment,” Emerging Infectious Diseases 12 (1) (2006): 34–39. 27. A. M. Payne, “The Influenza Programme of WHO,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 8 (5–6) (1953): 755–774, 758. 28. Ibid, 755. See also F. J. Brady, “Central Technical Services of the World Health Organization,” Public Health Reports (1896-1970) 72 (2) (1958): 101– 104. 29. Payne, “Influenza Programme of WHO,” 763. 30. A. Isaacs, R. J. C. Hart, and V. G. Law, “Influenza Viruses, 1957–60,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 26 (2) (1962): 253–259. See also P. Dorolle, “Old Plagues in the Jet Age: International Aspects of Present and Future Control of Communicable Disease,” British Medical Journal 4 (5634) (1968): 789–792, 791. 31. A. D. Langmuir and J. Housworth, “A Critical Evaluation of Influenza Surveillance,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 41 (3) (1969): 393–398, 393. 32. J. Fry, “Epidemic Influenza: Patterns Over 20 Years (1949–1968),” Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 17 (79) (1969): 100–103. 33. J. Kavet, “A Perspective on the Significance of Pandemic Influenza,” American Journal of Public Health 67 (11) (1977): 1063–1070. See also F. L. Ruben, “Prevention and Control of Influenza: Role of Vaccine,” American Journal of Medicine 82 (supplement 6A) (1987): 31–34; R. G. Douglas, “Prevention, Management, and Control of Influenza: A Mandate for the 1980s,” American Journal of Medicine 82 (supplement 6A) (1987): 1–3; D. S. Fedson, “Influenza Prevention and Control: Past Practices and Future Prospects,” American Journal of Medicine 82 (supplement 6A) (1987): 42–47. 34. Expert Committee on Influenza: First Report. World Health Organization Technical Report Series No. 64 (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1953), available at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/ trs/WHO_TRS_64.pdf, accessed February 17, 2011. 35. F. M. Davenport, “The Search for the Ideal Influenza Vaccine,” Postgraduate 37. Respiratory Viruses: Report of a WHO Scientific Group. Technical Report Series No. 408 (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1969), available at http:// whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_408. pdf, accessed February 21, 2011. 38. M. A. Miller, C. Viboud, D. R. Olsen, R. F. Grais, M. A. Rabaa, and L. Simonsen, “Prioritization of Influenza Pandemic Vaccination to Minimize Years of Life Lost,” Journal of Infectious Diseases 198 (3) (2008): 305–311. 39. Personal interview with Dr David L. Heymann, former WHO assistant director-general for health, security and the environment, London, November 12, 2010. 40. R. G. Webster and Y. Kawaoka, “Influenza—An Emerging and Re-Emerging Disease,” Virology 5 (2) (1994): 103– 111. For a more generic take on the same argument, see S. S. Morse, “Factors in the Emergence of Infectious Disease,” Emerging Infectious Diseases 1 (1) (1995): 7–15. 41. R. G. Webster, “Predictions for Future Human Influenza Pandemics,” Journal of Infectious Diseases 176 (supplement 1) (1997): S14–S19; P. A. Gross, “Preparing for the Next Influenza Pandemic: A Re-Emerging Infection,” Annals of Internal Medicine 124 (7) (1996): 682–685. 42. C. McInnes and S. Rushton, “HIV/ AIDS and Security: Where Are We Now?” International Affairs 86 (1) (2010): 225–245. 43. S. Collier and A. Lakoff, “The Problem of Securing Health,” in Biosecurity Interventions: Global Health and Security in Question, ed. A. Lakoff and S. Collier (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 7–32, 10. 44. M. T. Osterholm, “Preparing for the Next Pandemic,” New England Journal of Medicine 352 (18) (2005): 1839– 1842; K. F. Gensheimer, K. Fukuda, L. Brammer, N. Cox, P. A. Patriarca, and R. A. Strikes, “Preparing for Pandemic Influenza: The Need for Enhanced Surveillance,” Vaccine 20 (supplement 2) (2002): S63–S65. 45. S. Hota and A. McGeer, “Antivirals and the Control of Influenza Outbreaks,” Clinical Infectious Diseases 45 (10) (2007): 1362–1368; F. Ruben, “Prevention and Control of Influenza: Role of 98 | Public Health Then and Now | Peer Reviewed | Kamradt-Scott 47. The Global Economic and Financial Impact of an Avian Flu Pandemic and the Role of the IMF (Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, 2006), 21. 48. A. S. Monto, “Vaccines and Antiviral Drugs in Pandemic Preparedness,” Emerging Infectious Diseases 12 (1) (2006): 55–60. See also I. M. Longini, M. E. Halloran, A. Nizam, and Y. Yang, “Containing Pandemic Influenza With Antiviral Agents,” American Journal of Epidemiology 159 (7) (2004): 623– 633. 49. P. Caley, D. J. Philp, and K. McCracken, “Quantifying Social Distancing Arising From Pandemic Influenza,” Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 5 (23) (2008): 631–639. 50. J. O. Agwunobi, “Pandemic Influenza: The Threat, Health System Implications, and Legal Preparedness,” Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 35 (supplement 4) (2007): 23–27. 51. H. Kayman and A. Ablorh-Odjidja, “Revisiting Public Health Preparedness: Incorporating Social Justice Principles Into Pandemic Preparedness Planning for Influenza,” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 12 (4) (2006): 373–380. 52. M. J. Selgelid, “Pandethics,” Public Health 123 (3) (2009): 255–259. 58. B. Frist, “Public Health And National Security: The Critical Role Of Increased Federal Support,” Health Affairs 21 (6) (2002): 117–130. 59. C. Lam, C. Franco, and A. Schuler, “Billions for Biodefense: Federal Agency Biodefense Funding, FY2006– FY2007,” Biosecurity and Bioterrorism 4 (2) (2006): 113–127. 60. R. Sekaly, “The Failed HIV Merck Vaccine Study: A Step Back or a Launching Point for Future Vaccine Development?” Journal of Experimental Medicine 205 (1) (2008): 7–12. 61. G. Laver, “Influenza Drug Could Abort a Pandemic,” Nature 434 (7035) (2005): 821. 62. J. Kelso, G. Milne, and H. Kelly, “Simulation Suggests That Rapid Activation of Social Distancing Can Arrest Epidemic Development Due to a Novel Strain of Influenza,” BMC Public Health 9 (supplement 1) (2009): 117, available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/14712458/9/117, accessed February 25, 2011. 63. United Nations System Influenza Coordinator and World Bank, Fifth Global Progress Report 2010, 30. 64. D. Fidler, “Rise and Fall of Global Health as a Foreign Policy Issue,” Global Health Governance 4 (2) (2011), available at http://www.ghgj.org/ Volume%20IV%20Issue%202.htm, accessed July 8, 2011. 53. D. L. Heymann and G. R. Rodier, “Global Surveillance of Communicable Diseases,” Emerging Infectious Diseases 4 (3) (1998): 362–365, 362. 54. United Nations System Influenza Coordinator and World Bank, Fifth Global Progress Report 2010: A Framework for Sustaining Momentum (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010), 31. 55. N. King, “Security, Disease and Commerce: Ideologies of Postcolonial Global Health,” Social Studies of Science 32 (5–6) (2002): 763–789. 56. Transcript of virtual press conference with Dr Margaret Chan, directorgeneral, World Health Organization, and Dr Keiji Fukuda, special adviser to the director-general on pandemic influenza, August 10, 2010, available at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/multimedia/swineflupressbriefings/en/index. html, accessed November 24, 2010. 57. R. Katz and R. Kornblet, “Comparative Analysis of National Legislation in Support of the Revised International Health Regulations: Potential Models for Implementation in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 100 (12) (2010): 2347–2353. 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Running Head: CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

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“Changing Perceptions: of pandemic influenza and public health responses”

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Running Head: CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

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1. How did "anti-septic consciousness" improve public health in America? Why is this
approach unsuitable for dealing with HIV/AIDS?
Anti-septic consciousness has improved health in America in various ways. The
American culture of sterilization has continuously been on the rise and continues to play a major
role in public health. Furthermore, the consciousness of hospital hygiene, sanitation, and
personal hygiene are major components of antiseptic consciousness that have been central in
fighting and preventing various diseases. For instance, where one hurts themselves or bleeds,
through sterilization, they are able to kill or inactivate microorganisms that would otherwise
worsen the condition of the injured area. As a result, antiseptic consciousness has cut down on
the costs involved in treatments as well as the time spent on attending to patients within the
healthcare system. However, the antiseptic consciousness approach is not suitable for tackling
HIV/AIDS for various reasons. Most of the reported HIV cases are as a result of sexual
activities. In this regard, it is impossible to use sterilization in preventing HIV transmission from
one individual to another. Furthermore, this approach is also unsuitable for dealing with HIV
transmission and new infections that result from injection drug use especially from needles since
the drug users are often reckless and under the in...


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