The horrible outbreak of H1N1 in 2009 led to many devastating outcomes for families. According to the article by Nicholas Bakalar on February 8, 2011, found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/research/08flu.html?scp=3&sq=epidemic&st=cse , Swine Flu was not caused by being in the close vicinity of an infected person, but rather through the social networks of children. Research at a school in Pennsylvania showed that specific seating arrangements were not significant to the spread of this epidemic. Girls would have been more likely to spread it to other girls during playtime interaction, while boys would have been more likely to spread it to boys. A larger percentage of people from age six to ten were infected than any other age group. It was found that adults had a slim chance of contracting the Swine Flu from their own children, making it ineffective to shut down schools during this time.
Initially, I was not surprised at the data represented after reading this article. Transmission among classmates was found to be greater than the transmission between kids of different grades. This makes more sense because kids in elementary school more often play with kids their own age, which then would lead to transmitting the disease. Kids generally enjoy having fun with others of the same gender at such a young age as well. However, in our Epidemic Diseases class, we have learned that contagious diseases can be transmitted from other infected people. It can be understandable why some people would have been fearful of being in close proximity to someone infected with the disease, even though this was not the common manner of transmitting H1N1. This article got my attention because it gave valuable information on how to make the public more aware of the spread of disease.
This is a great article Annie, because the observations found in the class room are definitely proven to be true. It is more likely for a person to get infected after touching something an infected person used or coughed on. Children sitting at their desk do not touch or use the same materials as the person next to them, but when they play with another child they are more likely to use the same toy together. The facts represented in the article can be found through just observing my field seminar class, and the proof of having sick kids out almost every day still. Adults should be more cautious about the other kids health their child is playing with, because this could limit the spread of disease.
ReplyDeleteThis article is really interesting because it gives a new perspective on the spread of disease. Parents are so concerned about their children getting sick at school, when really, they are just as likely, if not more likely, to get sick from social interaction outside of school. It is unrealistic to expect that a kid is never going to get sick. Kids need to be exposed to germs in order to build up and immune system. I was not surprised that children were most likely to get and spread H1N1; however, I was surprised that most of the children did not catch or transmit the infectious disease at school. Thinking back to last year, so many schools closed due to the epidemic. It is also interesting to compare this winter to last winter. We do not hear about H1N1 this year nearly as much as we did last year.
ReplyDeleteI think the article is totally right about the spread of H1N1, because the data showed that the highest infection rate was in children. The age group that obsessed most about contracting H1N1 was the group that was washing hands and not getting in close quarters with people, the younger kids, who probably do not care, were the ones spreading germs amoungst themselves. Unfortunatley, preventing this isn't easy because kids will be kids.
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