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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The Infectious Disease Post



Before getting into Respiratory Therapy I was thinking about majoring in microbiology, specifically infectious diseases, so I have taken quite a bit of classes on the subject.

These last few months I have took an interest again on the subject, and have spent my down time researching through books, movies, a mobile game, and even a scavenger hunt.

This post is a hybrid part video/ part text so I would recommend watching the video first.
The references from the video are below:

  1. Flu Season not for me- I scheduled my vacation based on surveillance screening to miss flu season. I took my vacation during the end of January-to early February. As you can see for the graph below, the flu came early in my area, however I still had off during the peak of the season.
2013 Flu data for Norfolk, VA


ADDITIONAL LINKS

Original Post: "Flu Season Not for Me"




2. Plague, Inc 

Website:  Ndemic Creations


Critical Community Size (CCS)- There is a critical minimum size of the host population below which it can't persist indefinitely as an endemic, circulating infection. 
Important parameter in disease dynamics.


3. Zoonosis Scavenger Hunt




ADDITIONAL

Non-fiction books


-This is a very detailed book and my overall favorite  on the topic of emerging diseases. 


Fiction

The Demon in the freezer. A true story. (2003). Richard Preston.

-It states its a true story, however I question this based on how Ebola is embellished in his other books. 

Actually, I have read almost all of Richard Preston's books so here is a link to his amazon author page: Richard Preston

The Andromeda Strain. Michael Crichton

Next. Michael Crichton

-note: this book was published before the movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". I believe a lot of the ideas in the movie came from "Next". 


MOVIES


OutBreak (1995)

Contagion (2011)