Reveal 7 by Aiden Matthew Chal

Thesis

achal — 2021-11-10 04:47:15 UTC

The concept of disease eradication is very limited in its practice due to the many challenges that need to be overcome for it. Challenges include vaccine hesitancy, political boycotts/willingness, accessibility, and today's increased mobility. But even that said, we have seen disease eradication actually occur in the case of smallpox. Only with global coordination and enhanced public education will we be able to add more diseases onto the list of eradications.

Smallpox Vaccination Campaign

achal — 2021-11-10 04:49:48 UTC

This image showcases a movement in avocation for the global smallpox vaccination campaign. Most of these people are younger individuals, most likely students. This picture provides a great example of community awareness and education regarding vaccines and its impact on lessening government hesitancy.

Smallpox in the Post-Eradication Era

achal — 2021-11-10 05:08:24 UTC

The success story of smallpox eradication has allowed us, as public health officials/researchers, to both learn from and incorporate once more, the methods used for eradication. From a more biological perspective, according to the article, we still own strains of the smallpox causative agent in labs in Russia and the USA. Although heavy considerations need to be made before their use, there is lots of potential that can come from further study and research using these strains.

Polio Vaccination Campaign/Intiative

achal — 2021-11-10 05:29:11 UTC

The article describes the 1988 WHO initiative in the eradication of polio. Sadly, the disease is not currently 100% eradicated like smallpox but still, the initiative has caused a 99% decrease in incidence of polio globally. A few countries still remain with some infection but this is mostly due to accessibility issues and local large reservoirs of the disease. Case-on-case interventions have since been tailored to each setting.

1988 vs 2020 Polio Eradication Rates

achal — 2021-11-10 05:31:22 UTC

This image puts into perspective the massive eradication effort of the 1988 WHO initiative. Only 2 more countries remain in this effort. If we were to now prioritize our efforts in these countries, we could achieve global health equity against polio.

Vaccine Hesitancy

achal — 2021-11-11 07:08:50 UTC

The internet can provide users with vast amounts of information at a moment's notice. But, as described in this article, can also provide lots of misinformation. "Around 85% of parents who claimed to get their primary information from their family physician/pediatrician or MOH well-baby center completely vaccinated their children. This was in contrast to over a third of parents who claimed to have no information sources that were VH (p < 0.001). Nearly half of parents whose most trusted opinion was a religious authority (42%) or the internet (45%) were VH (p < 0.001)" (Ashkenazi et. al 2020).

Population Mobility and its Relation to Infectious Diseases

achal — 2021-11-11 07:18:37 UTC

This article describes the connection with today's technological innovations in terms of mobility and the prevalence of infectious diseases. The term "mobility" can be in regards to either physical population mobility or even just the transfer of goods from one country to another. Either way, thorough screening and testing need to be incorporated to prevent epidemics from arising.

Audio Summary

achal — 2021-11-11 07:23:20 UTC